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Families Helping
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Yad Ezra's Yom Kippur food drive is one e ective way the food pantry
provides year-round for the needy.

SHARON LUCKERMAN

Editorial Assistant

Ezra clients, such as condiments, cake mixes and cof-
fee.

or nine years now, Yad Ezra has joined the
Year-Round Giving
spirit of the holidays by sponsoring a Yom
Yad Ezra not only functions on the holidays, but
Kippur food drive. The only kosher food
assists families and individuals needing food the
assistance program in Michigan assists 1,000
year-round.
needy Jewish families in the Detroit area.
"Our mission is to provide supplemental kosher
Yad Ezra is housed in a cement-block warehouse on
food
to those in need," Lugar says.
Harding Street in Oak Park, a block off 11 Mile Road
The food pantry gives away 500,000 pounds of
between Greenfield and Coolidge. Tall cherry-tomato
food a year, she says. Every four weeks, it distributes
bushes and brave cucumber flowers still flourish around
41,000 pounds of food, about 70 percent of it pur-
the doorway. Boxes of bananas, Hi-C juice and green
chased from food banks with donations (see chart).
beans line the entrance that opens into a clean, large
Once sorted, food is either picked up by clients or dis-
warehouse. Colorful banners hang overhead made by
tributed by volunteers to people living everywhere
students from local synagogues.
from downtown Detroit to Oak Park and neighboring
On Oct. 10, between 20-25 local organizations and
Stan Freedman of Bloomfield Township helps sort food
suburbs.
congregations collected 30,000 pounds of food just
from the erev Yom Kippur food drive.
Each monthly package contains 28 items, including
before Kol Nidrei. The bounty was delivered to Yad
Ezra by trucks, individual vans and
on foot.
Judy Marx, communications direc-
Distributors, Wholesalers, Manufacturers
tor of Adat Shalom Synagogue, drove
a vanload of groceries on Oct. 10 to
the warehouse with her granddaugh-
ter Rachel Hollander, nearly 6, of
Sends food to 290 food banks
West Bloomfield. Rachel carried in a
across
the country; six are in Michigan
big jar filled with contributions.
"It's important for children at an
At the top of the food chain for needy
early age to learn the value of helping
families is Second Harvest, an umbrella
those who are less fortunate," Marx
organization that has 290 food banks
says.
across the country. Six are in Michigan.
Rachel says she thinks the poor
Second Harvest secures large contracts
will be happier because of the food.
Food
Food
Food
for procurement of food year-round from
"The community rallied for those
Bank
Bank
Bank
Bank
distributors, wholesalers and manufactur-
in need," says Yad Ezra's co-director
ers. They also raise funds to pay for
Bank
Bank
Lea Luger, who is also development
necessities like trucking costs, computers
Detroit
Pontiac
director. "I'm impressed by their gen-
and freezers. Food banks also get food
erosity."
from local farmers. They charge either wholesale prices or a
On Oct. 11, three shifts of volun-
maintenance fee to store and truck food. Yad Ezra purchases
teers worked to sort, pack and shelve
most of its food from Oakland County Food Bank and
the donated food. Their first step was
Gleaners, and sends non-kosher food donated to them to
to separate the donations into kosher
these food banks.
(as determined by Council of
Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit
(Marilyn McCalh
standards) and non-kosher food. The
development director,
latter was given to feed clients of the
and Sherree Gerzanics
Food Bank of Oakland County and
at the Oakland County
the Gleaners Community Food Bank.
Food Bank contributed v
No food donation is wasted.
to this story.)
The Yom Kippur drive also
brought important, miscellaneous
items not usually available to Yad

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10/20
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