Community
endar
Hillel Day School teacher bikes
for donations to Leukemia Society
in honor of her student.
SHELLI DORFMAN
Editorial Assistant
hen Barbara Acker gets
ready for her trip to
Nevada next month,
she'll pack her tooth-
brush, tennis shoes, some shorts —
and her bicycle.
Acker's travels will take her to
Lake Tahoe for an eight-hour, 100-
mile bike marathon for the Leukemia
Society of America.
Acker, who teaches middle
school English and drama and
coaches volleyball at Hillel Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit in
Farmington Hills, learned last fall
that 12-year-old Elana Ackerman,
one of her sixth-grade students, had
been diagnosed with leukemia.
I
Ackerman's classmates, greatly
upset at the news, "called their friend
and sent her cards and e-mails." But
Acker thought she "should be doing
something more." Then she received
a flyer explaining the Michigan
Chapter of the Leukemia Society's
plan to send bike riders to the Lake
Tahoe marathon.
A regular exerciser — enjoying aer-
obics, Tae-Bo, kick-boxing and tennis
Youngster's
resolve inspires
teacher to join battle
against leukemia.
Barbara Acker trains for
100-mile bike marathon.
— Acker has ridden in several bike
marathons, including the six-day,
300-mile Michigander with her sons
Jared, 16, and Evan, 13. But she has
never ridden 100 miles in one day
Acker, who also has a daughter,
LeeAnn, 11, attended an informa-
tional meeting in Royal Oak in
the middle of a snowstorm, and
came home committed to train-
ing for the ride.
Her next step was to find enough
sponsors to pledge the $3,600 entry
fee,. of which 25 percent goes
toward traveling expenses and the
rest to the Leukemia Society. A con-
tributor gave her postage toward the
700 letters she sent to friends, co-
workers and Hillel families. Hillel
added her letter to a school mailing,
thereby covering its cost.
. page 45
In three months, she collected
more than $10,000.
Someone she didn't know pitched
in a 52,000 check. Not acquainted
with either Acker or Ackerman,
Hillel parents Alon and Shari
Kaufman received Acker's letter. "It
touched me," said Alon Kaufman
and he decided to make the contri-
bution. Although he did not know it
at the time, the size of the gift made
him a corporate sponsor of Acker's
team, with his business name added
to the back of her biking jersey.
The Leukemia Society pro-
vides participants with "a coach,
training regimen, nutritional
advi c e and a group of fellow
cyclists with a common goal," as
well as "lots of support."
The Leukemia Society divides
entrants into groups of 10 or 12,
providing each team with informa-
tion on two patients, in whose names
they ride. In addition, participants
may make personal additions to that
list; names they call "honored
patients." Acker chose Ackerman.
And on June 4, the 48-year-old
Acker will join 66 other Michigan
Team-In-Training riders in a flight to
Nevada for the Sunday, June 6,
marathon.
A U-Haul truck filled with their
bikes will meet them there in time
for the 6:30 am. start — a ride that
Acker intends to finish. Although not
a race, she is riding as a personal
challenge to herself and ro honor
Ackerman, whom she describes as "a
marvelous child, who publishes poet-
ry" and is the creator and editor of an
on-line magazine sent semi-monthly
to nearly 400 subscribers.
Acker says it is Ackerman's
" courage in her fight against her
disease, and bright smile" that
inspired her.
Tax-deductible donations made
out to the Leukemia Society of
America may be sent to Barbara
Acker; 3120 Parkland Drive,
West Bloomfield, MI 48322.
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5/28
1999