Co m mun i ty

A mitzvah project
becomes a good deed
and a lesson.

CART WALDMAN
Special to the Jewish News

M

Nib ;

10/20
2000

66

ost of 13-year-old Julie Zuckerman's
friends already know that there is more
to a bat mitzvah than just a religious ser-
vice and a party. But Zuckerman want-
ed to get the message across to her non-Jewish friends
at Bloomfield Hills Middle School as well.
Zuckerman's invitation to her 70 eighth-grade class-
mates read: "Lend me a helping hand and join me at
Gleaners Food Bank to share in my mitzvah project
and to celebrate my bat mitzah." The invitation added
that the hours could be used toward the school's com-
munity-service requirement.
Thirty-eight friends, Julie's brother David, 10, and
her parents, Betsy Appleton and Eric Zuckerman,
boarded a rented bus at the school on Oct. 8.
Their experience at Gleaners on Detroit's east side
started with a tour led by a volunteer coordinator. The
visitors learned how Gleaners uses "recaptured" food,

Mazel Toy!

which otherwise would have been thrown away,
and how it secures, stores and distributes food to
local non-profit agencies and charities that feed
the poor and hungry of southeastern Michigan.
"After the tour, they literally got to work,"
said Rick Loewenstein, president of Gleaners.
The students broke into three task groups, form-
ing an assembly line. One group made boxes
and stacked them. The second group organized
the cereal boxes and canned fruit. The third
group used hot-glue guns to label soup cans.
Zuckerman's friends Carli Siegel and
Top: Julie Zuckerman's friends volunteer at Gleaners.
Stephanie Singer agreed that "it was nice helping
Above: Julie Zuckerman, brother David, father Eric, and
people in our community in need while being
mom Betsy Appleton.
with friends while we worked."
Singer added, "It was a great idea having every-
one help in her mitzvah project."
we packed that much food."
A visit from the food bank's mascot, Can Man,
She will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Nov. 18 at
added to the amusement as well as a big birthday cake
Temple Beth El. And, Zuckerman adds, "now my
brought by Julie's parents. The icing message said,
friends can say, 'Not only did I attend Julie
"Thanks for lending me a helping hand."
Zuckerman's service and party, but I helped in doing
In two hours, the group packed 14,162 pounds of
her mitzvah." ❑
food into take-home boxes. According to Loewenstein,
that included "388 boxes for individuals in need, 160
trays from bulk Keebler cookies and crackers, and
Individuals or groups that want to help at
labeled 11 cases of soup cans."
Gleaners Community Food Bank can call (313)
"I knew I wanted to do something that would help
923-3535.
others," said Zuckerman. "It felt really good to know