DOER PROFILE ALLAN \S 1 Home: Bloomfield Township Kudos: Afghan Shoe-In Allan Einstein, a teacher at Berkshire Middle School in Birmingham and a Detroit Pistons photographer; cham- pioned a drive that collected and sent more than 1,600 pairs of shoes to needy children in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Allan Einstein (left, with beard) and students send shoes off to Afghanistan. How did the Ghazni project come to be? "One of my students brought in photographs from Ghazni for a current events assignment. The student's father, Lance Waldorf, is stationed in Ghazni as part of an army program that works with communities to help rebuild cities. When we looked at the pictures, we noticed that the basketball hoops in the back- ground had no nets. So we decided to send Ghazni children basketball gear and collected basketball hoops, balls, nets, rims and Pistons T-shirts and caps." So, where do the shoes fit in? "Another picture had kids with no shoes on, and it was winter. So we decided to also collect shoes, and it skyrocketed. We collected 1,500 pairs of shoes and also received some monetary donations. We were able to buy another 140 pairs of shoes at K-Mart and 400 pairs of socks from Costco." Are you planning any more collections? "They need school supplies and have other needs as well. We're hoping to receive pictures soon." How did the experience affect you? "Not all teachers' lessons are taught out of books. This taught self-esteem. The kids don't want to stop now They loaded the boxes and saw them being taken away. To hear the kids talk about it is great. They want to keep helping other people." ❑ — Illana Greenberg, IN marketing director REPORT A DOER... Know a Doer — someone of any age doing interest- ing, meaningful things in their life-outside of their job? Share suggestions with Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor, at (248) 351-5144 or e-mail: kcohen@thejewishnews.com 4/30 2004 10 Terror At The Corner Mall hen I bid a fond shalom to daily jour- nalism, I felt that one of the upsides was that I would no longer have to make the 50-mile daily round trip downtown. This was by far the most danger- GEORGE ous thing I ever did in my newspa- CANTOR per career. I was convinced that the laws of probability Reality would overtake Check me eventually, and I would be turned into bone and gristle by a random truck. Either on the Telegraph Road entrance to the south- bound Lodge or around the dreaded Wyoming curve. What a misled fool I was. Navigating the perils of the mall right near my home is scarier by far. All the rules of the road, and of common decency, are abandoned when one enters mall space. The marked parking places are regarded as sug- gestions rather than actual repositories for a car. It's much easier just to leave it at the curb and avoid the tough 20-second walk. So what if that presents a traffic obstruction? If you're just going to be in the store for five or 10 minutes, who could possibly mind? Shopping carts are simply shoved out of the way when you're finished with them; and if they wind up rolling for a while and blocking a parking space for someone else, hey, tough luck. There is a drive-up mailbox in my mall. Unfortunately, it is placed adjacent to a dance stu- dio; and the parents who come to pick up their kids invariably choose to wait, oblivious, right in George Cantor's e-mail address is gcantor@thejewishnews.corn front of the mail chute. Younger drivers feel that the 35-mile-an-hour speed limit on Orchard Lake Road also applies to the mall roadways. While some elderly pedestrians apparently cling to the theory that those same road- ways are to be used as an extension of the sidewalk. There is nothing I ever encountered on the free- way more dangerous than being head-in parked between a pair of elephantine SUVs and trying to back out of the space with your sight lines totally blocked. That is truly an act of blind faith. There are two "No Left Turn" signs (the bent arrow with a red line through it) at one of the mall entrances. If West Bloomfield ever wants to perk up the town- ship budget, all it has to do is station a squad car there all day and ticket driv- ers who ignore the signs. But they've only been there for about 10 years, so maybe they just take some getting used to. And while the cops are at it, maybe they could flag down the smart guys who bust through the red light on Orchard Lake Road, panic stricken at the thought of being held.up for 20 seconds. But I digress. No, the downtown trek doesn't look so bad any- more. Besides, all that painfully accumulated com- muting knowledge is going to waste. Like knowing that you have to get into the right lane of the Lodge as soon as you pass the Meyers Road entry ramp because it will move you 20 car lengths ahead of everyone else before you reach the Davison interchange. And the surface escape routes on those mornings when the Lodge is backed up all the way to Seven Mile Road. I miss the soothing voices of Paul W. Smith, Dick Purtan, Roberta Jasina and Joe Donovan — my former companions on that long, strange voyage. I listen for them at the mall but they are silent. Maybe that's because I'm sleeping in later, too. ❑ Shabbat Candlelighting "When I light Shabbos candles, I think about how lucky I am to have such wonderful family." — Tali Wendrow, West Bloomfield Candlelighting Candlelighting Friday, April 30, 8:14 p.m. Friday, May 7, 8:21 p.m. Shabbat Ends Shabbat Ends Saturday, May 1, 9:20 p.m. Saturday, May 8, 9:29 p.m. 7i, submit ,7 candlelighting message, call Miriam Amzulak of the Lubauitch 1,Y/omen's Organization at (248) 548-6771 or e-mail• nramzalakeYuno.com