binati Ok,

Spirituality

Left: Behind a mountain of
gifts are Sarah Davis and
Chuck Davis of Livonia,
Ruth Chupack of Southfield,
Sharon Chupack of Walled
Lake, Anita Bogorad of
Farmington Hills, Laura
Davis of Livonia, and Sheila
Glantz and Ken Chupack of
Willed Lake.

Above: Ken Chupack and Anita Bogorad
place wrapped gifts in a basket.

LO-: Sarah Davis finishes up gift wrapping
at the Dec. 17 fizmily gathering.

Alternative Party

1

I To Tours

Chanukah is made more meaningful for those who give
and those who receive.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

StalfWriter

A

fter seven years of holding grab-bag
Chanukah parties, Anita Bogorad and her
family turned something that was becoming
tedious and trivial into a meaningful and
ongoing annual event.
"It became such a burden because we could not
think of a new or original theme to base the gift
exchange on," Bogorad says she said of the 30 to 40
extended family members who gather yearly.
So five years ago, Bogorad of Farmington Hills
began a new tradition, since carried on by her cousin
Laura Davis of Livonia and her sister Sheila Glantz of
Walled Lake.
She contacted Debra Edwards, director of finan-
cial resources for Jewish Family Service in
Southfield, for information on a family they could
shop for instead of one another.
"We asked them to locate a family who needed
our help in celebrating Chanukah...a family not as
fortunate as us," Bogorad says.
Stressing that they be able to give anonymously,
they were given merely a profile on one family,
including their ages, genders and clothing size, with
no exchange of names.
That kind of request was a first for JFS.
At first, it was suggested that the would-be donors

send a contribution that would be
forwarded to a family. "When we explained that is not
what we wanted — that we wanted to go deeper into
delivering a memorable Chanukah — they responded,"
Bogorad says.
A family was selected and "our family went into
action,". Bogorad remembers.

Spreading Goodwill

This year, 13 or 14 families have requested to under-
take similar involvement, says Michelle Greenstein,
JFS program director of volunteer services.
"It has become more popular as more people are
realizing the option. They say, 'What else do my
kids really need?' and instead of shopping for each
other, they shop for needy families."
When they receive calls from those wanting to
donate gifts, Greenstein says, "I communicate with
the social workers here and we identify the most
needy families."
Each year, Bogorad and her relatives have received
the name of a different family. "Today, our children
are teenagers and they look forward to this gathering
as much as the rest of the family," she says of those
including her son, Jonathan, 16.
"We want to teach our children that they must
give back to a community who has enriched their
lives."

The family continues the tradition of
gathering together, but instead of swap-
ping Chanukah gifts, they meet during
the week before the holiday to share a
pot-luck meal and wrap the gifts they
have each purchased.
The invitation for this year's get-together,
Dec. 17 at the clubhouse of the Eagle
Pond Heights Apartments in Walled
Lake, included a list of family members to shop for with
their ages, and a check mark next to the person that
family was to shop for.
On the back of the invitation was a specific list of
wants and needs submitted by the family themselves.
"Over the years, we have helped single moms, a family
where the father was recently disabled... and each year
we get into trying to know a little about them so we can
buy meaningful gifts," Bogorad says.
Often, the families include personal notes with their
requests or after receipt of the gifts. "We have been for-
warded beautiful anonymous letters from the families of
our past Chanukahs," Bogorad says. "(This) truly signi-
fies the meaning, 'From our family to yours.
Her sister, Sheila Glantz, adds, "I hope that other
families will see how much it might mean to some fam-
ily, and do this as their holiday get together, too."
Sarah Davis, 16, of Livonia thoroughly enjoyed
sorting through the gifts and wrapping them at the
family party. In addition to shopping for gifts for
the family member designated on their invitation,
they purchased items to be used by the entire family.
But they were not the only ones to show up with
armloads of presents. "Everybody brings in more
than they are supposed to bring," says Sarah of the
25 to 30 gifts that were packaged in baskets to be
presented to the family.
Sarah enjoyed "the fun of getting to know you are
doing something for a family. I always wish I could see
their faces," she says.
"As a family, we are unified on getting together
and are really excited about what we bought for a
family that may not have much to feel excited
about," Bogorad says. ❑

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