One Family's
Mitzvah Day

Above: Stuart Sakwa and his daughter, Hayley, share a bingo table at the
Fleischman Residence with Shirley Parsky, Ann Bernstein and Brenda Reiss.

Left: Shari Goldstein of West Bloomfield and her son, Michael, 10, visit
residents in Hechtman Apartments of Jewish Apartments and Services.

Serving Soup And Hope

"Don't give up! For you do touch a few!"
This is the last line of a handwrit-
ten poem that a homeless man slipped
to "Sister" Gertrude as he passed
through the food line at St. Leo's
Catholic Church soup kitchen on
Christmas Day.
Sister Gertrude is a petite woman
who was wearing glasses and a pink
dress. She told me in her soft-spoken
way about her devotion to St. Leo's and
Jesus. Then she stood up in front of 150
hungry people, mostly men, and com-
manded silence for the Lord's Prayer.
St. Leo's is a special place because of

Beth Goldberg is a financial planner in a

family fir-n2, Equity Planning Group Inc.

people like
Supervisor Joe
Micallef. He
told the men to
be on their best
behavior while
volunteers were
in the building.
Joyce Sakwa and Beth Goldberg prepare food for the soup
St. Leo's
operates a soup
kitchen at St. Leo's.
kitchen six days
Bishop Gumbleton led a service in
a week, and also
the
beautiful chapel upstairs. Single
and
distributes food, clothes, toys
people, parents and their children vol-
books. The church and annex house an
unteered to prepare and serve
active congregation, charter school and
Christmas dinner, mop floors, sort
program for drug-addicted pregnant
donations and assist the disabled in
women. They accept volunteers and
the basement soup kitchen.
donations throughout the year.

Dec. 25 means different things to
different people. In the Sakwa
household, it is commonly referred
to as "Mitzvah Day."
Mom (Randi) has been
involved in the Jewish Federation's
Volunteer Extravaganza for many
years, first as a volunteer, then as a
site coordinator, and finally as co-
chair of the event for the last four
years. Uncle Mike is a site coordi-
nator and Papa Dave and
Grandma Joyce are volunteers.
During the first few years, I
would stay home and watch the
kids, but last year we decided the
kids were old enough to appreciate
the purpose of the activity. We began
a new family tradition that is teach-
ing my children valuable lessons.
To arrive at the Max M. Fisher
Building by 9 a.m. last Friday, my
kids Ryan, 8, and Hayley, 6, had
to sacrifice sleeping in and get up
early just like on a school day.
After dropping off their sister
Ashley, 3-1/2, we proceeded to
Federation headquarters, where
fellow volunteers had been arriving
since 7:30 a.m., and then on to
the Fleischman Residence in West
Bloomfield.
All the way there, the kids

MITZVAH DAY on page 25

Volunteer Joyce Sakwa said, "I felt I
really helped and the people were real-
ly grateful."
Eleven-year-old Brian told coor-
dinators, "It was a positive experience
because it was a fun and generous
thing to do. It will make me feel bet-
ter knowing how many times I've
helped the homeless.
Some of the recipients brought bits
of wisdom and laughter to the day.
Like the man who said that his family
was poor when he grew up down
South. But they were proud, he says.
No drugs.
Two men professed their love to
site coordinator Linda Migdal.
Another proposed marriage. Most of
them said, "thank you, bless you" or
"Merry Christmas." L 1

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Detroit Jewish News