a hurdle many people find asking for help. If a
network of people will be advocates for the poor,
then they will not need to suffer while trying to
get the courage up to ask for help."

A Growing Concern

Yad Ezra rose out of an unsuccessful attempt to feed
the Jewish hungry by Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper, rabbi
emeritus of Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield. We needed a more grassroots organiza-
tion," he says.
A few years later, Rabbi Schnipper joined with his
friend and ex-priest Jim Macy, executive director of the
Food Bank of Oakland County, and several others to
form Yad Ezra, literally Hand of Ezra in Hebrew or
"helping hands".
"We started with 230 clients," says co-director Ryke.
Seed money came from the Max M. Fisher Jewish
Community Foundation, under the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit umbrella, and other commu-
nity donations. Oncce off the ground, Yad Ezra
became an independent agency.
They rented a building on 10 Mile and Fairfax in
Southfield that had a drive-through window. About
two years later, they moved to their warehouse on
Harding south of 11 Mile in Oak Park. Volunteers
made deliveries to shut-ins and people living in
Detroit.
From the beginning, food and compassion were Yad
Ezra's specialties.
Former president Eizelman of Oak Park remembers
the early years when he and his father, Seymour, made
deliveries to 10-15 families once a month in southwest
Detroit.
He soon realized food was not all they delivered.
Eizelman particularly remembers one elderly woman
living in Detroit long after most Jews had moved to the
suburbs.
"She was difficult to get along with," Eizelman says,
"but for some reason she liked me." Although Jewish
Family Service tried to get her to a safer home in the
suburbs, she wanted to stay put.
"She saved up jobs for us when we'd come,
Eizelman says. "I'd screw in light bulbs — nothing big.
But she'd never ask for help — she'd drop hints, like
`You know what? I don't have a can opener.' So the
next month, we brought her a can opener. Or when
she said she used to have fish in her fish tank, but
couldn't afford them anymore."
The next visit, Eizelman and his father brought her
goldfish and food.
Eizelman's mother, Jeanette Eizelman, became Yad
Ezra's first executive director.

))

Today's Clients

On the first night at the new warehouse, an immi-
grant geologist
ist from the former Soviet Union, a dis-
abled psychologist and several elderly women pick up
food parcels, after going through the line and selecting
items they need.
The psychologist, injured in an accident. says she
has learned how difficult it is to get what she needs
from local agencies. Though she now lives with her
mother, she still finds it difficult to live on food
stamps.
"They're so limited," she says.

An engineer from the
Middle East„a client with a
wife and three children, spoke
to volunteer Bernie Jonas, 78,
of West Bloomfield, about his
predicament. For now, he
works as a "stock boy" in a
market, making it difficult to
make ends meet. He is so
thankful for Yad Ezra's sup-
port that he offered to volun-
teer there.
Despite their hardships,
clients show their apprecia-
tion by giving, too. An older
woman always donates $1
when she comes for her food.
While a single mother with two children who drives to
Yad Ezra from Ann Arbor, sent a check for $12.75 —
for tzedakah.
"Some clients eventually will find work and no
longer need our services," Luger says. "But around
75 percent of them — the elderly, emotionally and
physically handicapped and older immigrants —
will always need our help.

From left
to right:
Michael
1 Eizelman,
Andrew Zack,
Elaine Ryke,
Jaimey Roth,
Lea Luger and
Paul Finkel.

Ninety-seven percent of Yad Ezra clients are on food
stamps, Luger says. The food pantry is meant to aug-
ment their monthly basic food allowance.
Thanks to Yad Ezra, this client says she now can save
some money to pay bills, instead of spending it on
extra food.
Another client received shampoo (through a special
Yad Ezra program), along with her food. In tears, she
said, "Now I can feed my children and wash their hair."

Yad Ezra Expands

Modern Berkley facility increases
efficiency and client privacy.

SHARON LUCKERMAN
Staff Writer

A

fter a five-year search,
Yad Ezra moved into
its new location that
quadruples the size of
its former building.
The kosher food pantry will
use 10,000 square feet of its
new home at 2850 W. 11 Mile
Road west of Coolidge; an addi-
tional 6,000 square feet will be
rented out to defray costs.
On Feb. 5, the first night in
the new building, the Berkley
facility got rave reviews from
clients and volunteers.
"It's terrific! Clean. More effi-
cient and [the client line] flows
nicely," says Evelyn Feigenson,
79, of Detroit.
"This is a big place with lots
of light and better for people -
who work here. And the park-
ing lot is very nice," says a client
from Uzbekistan living in
Southfield with his wife. two
daughters
and three grandchil-
b
b
dren.
"Most importantly, the new
location affords much more pri-

vacy to our clients," says Elaine
Rykes, Yad Ezra co-director with
Lea Luger. "The bigger area also
enables us to buy larger quanti-
ties and therefore get better
prices."
Board member and volunteer
Mike Rich, 41, of Oak Park
checks out the freezer and pal-
lets of food. Over the years, he
says, he's learned where to find
the best bulk food deals and
what kind of commercial freezer
best suits their needs.
He can purchase 5,000 cans
of peas ("a delicacy for the
Russians"), for example, for 25
cents a can. "That's $1,250," he
rattles off, and knows it will
feed clients from 2 1/2-3 months.
He also knows how many cans
are on a pallet (2,040), which is
how to buy wholesale.
Rich, like many other volun-
teers and staff, is excited by the
combination cooler-freezer that
has made stocking food much
easier. "Like night and day," he
says.
Because of the cooler's large
sliding door, they can now
wheel in a pallet of chickens

"

weighing 1,600 pounds.
Volunteers used to have to lift
and move food by hand in and
out of the cooler daily.
Co-directors Luger and Rykes
can't say enough about their vol-
unteers, board members and the
community who made the
move possible.
The generosity of the board
was evident everywhere.
"Board member Paul Finkel
and his business partner Jaimey
Roth of Novi donated their
services and renovated the new
building," Luger says.
Equipment, like the approxi-
mately $41,000 cooler-freezer,
was also donated by Yad Ezra
supporters.
She adds that board members
researched refrigeration and
cooling and floor insulation to
get the best deals. They also
"helped shlep heavy boxes on
moving day and served Clients
the next day. They didn't miss a
beat.
What keeps the volunteers
coming?
"The feeling that I can make a
difference," Rich says.
A dedication of the new build-
ing will be held in late spring.
Client hours are 10-noon
Monday-Thursday, 6:30-8
p.m.Tuesday and Thursday
and noon-2 Sunday. Call
(248) 548-3663. Fl

3/1
2002
15