'G rid Pleasures
JARC group enjoys lending a hand
at the annual parcel project.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
Danny Samet
and David Higer
find their first
destination.
Above: The Purim parcel
factory produces packages.
Right: Harold Folkoff
readies for the road trip.
or Harold Folkoff, participating in
the Great Purim Parcel Project
meant a lot.
For one, this was his first time
volunteering at the event held an-
nually at the Agency for Jewish Ed-
ucation. Although he has donated
his time to the community for the
past seven years, he had never assembled
packages for the less fortunate, the elderly
or Jewish people new to Detroit.
The volunteering was also significant
because Mr. Folkoff is a client of the Jew-
ish Association for Residential Care
(JARC), a program that provides housing
and assisted living for adults with dis-
abilities.
"I like meeting new people," Mr. Folkoff
said. "I learn from this about my religion,
about my faith."
In the past, JARC clients have been re-
cipients of the food gifts assembled and
delivered by the Young Adult Division of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and the National Council of Jew-
ish Women.
But this year, JARC clients, together
with JARC worker Shoshana Rubenstein,
gave their time to the Purim parcel effort.
"As a group we decided what we would
want to do," Ms. Rubenstein said. "This
was one thing they all wanted to do."
Recipients this year included Jewish
patients in hospice care, Shalom Detroit
newcomers, new Jewish Americans,
Kosher Meals on Wheels recipients, Yad
Ezra clients and residents of the Jewish
Home for Aged, Kadima and the group
apartments for the elderly of Jewish Fam-
ily Service.
The event, sponsored by Jewish Expe-
riences For Families, Hillel of Metropol-
itan Detroit, the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit Volunteer Network
and The Jewish News, gathered 2,000
packages for distribution.
The JARC group began their work at
10:30 a.m. Sunday and labored alongside
other community volunteers, including
parents with children, young adults and
new Americans. Together, they spent two
hours putting oranges, handfuls of Her-
shey's Kisses and bags of pretzels onto
brightly colored plates and into bags.
"When you volunteer, it makes you feel
good," JARC client Lisa Henry said. "It
makes you feel like a winner."
After the assembly line had exhausted
its resources, the JARC group brought
boxes brimming with the packages to the
Jewish Home for Aged for distribution.
Harold Folkoff looked forward to this
part, going out into the community as a
volunteer. He said others learn as much
from this as he does.
"We don't want a disability to be in our
way. We have so many things we can of-
fer to the community," Mr. Folkoff said.
"It opens other people's eyes to people with
disabilities and what we can do."
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