Oakland
County's
Premier
Lifestyle
Magazine
For advertising or
subscription information
please call
(248) 354-6060
Published by The Detroit Jewish News
26
center for a hot meal and company.
Father Thomas Duffey, director of
the St. Patrick Senior Center, says
Sydney's contributions are essential to
the seniors at the center. "He thinks he
doesn't do anything but he is an example
of caring and sharing what he has with
others," Duffey says. "He is just a
beautiful person.
When he isn't busy with one of his
weekly volunteer commitments, Sydney
can be found doing work for the Jewish
Sports Hall of Fame, Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS) Foundation, the Juvenile
Diabetes Foundation or the Parkinson's
Foundation. He's served all either as a
board member or an officer. He also is an
active member and usher at Temple Israel.
Whew!
"I don't think I will every really know
all that he has done. He doesn't tell
people about his charity work," says
Karen Simon, his daughter. "But we
always say there isn't a charity my father
has met that he doesn't like."
Celia Lubetsky, a 48-year-old mother
of two teenagers, is not a daily volunteer
like Sydney. Instead, she donates her
time to a number of pet projects, mostly
food-related.
She makes deliveries for Yad Ezra,
prepares meals for families at the Ronald
McDonald House near Children's
Hospital of Michigan, makes lunch bags
for the homeless in Detroit through the
Central Methodist Church, collects
food on Yom Kippur, co-chairs the food
portion of the synagogue's Housing the
Homeless project and recruits volunteers
to work with new immigrants through
Jewish Family Service.
On a weekly basis, she plays the
piano for Alzheimer patients and other
nursing home residents and pitches in
with Jewish Hospice care, sometimes
simply sitting with the families or
holding the hands of the dying.
And she's a longtime member of
Adat Shalom's sisterhood and social
action committee.
"The time Celia gives knows no
limits. She is just an inherently good
person who loves to give back to the
community and give to others," says
Joyce Weingarten, Adat Shalom's
immediate past sisterhood president.
"She rolls up her sleeves and pitches in."
Celia is not looking for honors. Far
from it. Instead, like many volunteers, her
reason for giving stems from her family.
Volunteering gives her a connection
to her mother, an active Hadassah
volunteer who died of breast cancer at
age 34. And just as her mother
hammered it into her young mind that
giving back is the price for living, she is
teaching that same lesson to her children,
Rachel and Brian, through feeding
homeless people on Christmas or singing
for people no one else sings to.
"(Volunteers) are the leaders,
the planners, the caregivers,"
Blumenstein says. "They are
the contributors of time and
energy for the betterment of the
world we live in. All of us owe
them a debt of gratitude."
"I want my kids to see how
important it is to give back," Celia says.
"I want them to know that it is not a
perfect world we live in, that they are
so lucky to have a roof over their heads,
to have food to eat, to not be sick."
Whatever the reason, contributions
of time and effort made by this pair, and
all other volunteers, are at times worth
more than could ever come from a
check or cash donation.
"(Volunteers) are the leaders, the
planners, the caregivers," Blumenstein
says. "They are the contributors of time
and energy for the betterment of the
world we live in. All of us owe them a
debt of gratitude."
■
JNSourceBook