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Marx AZA Cleans Up

On March 27, Marx AZA joined the Motor City Blight Blusters,
an organization dedicated to rebuilding and reconstructing
abandoned and run down facilities in and around the Detroit area,
in a community service project to be remembered. The AZA'ers
worked hard, helping to paint, move furniture and clean the
building next door to the Redford Theater. This new facility is
being turned into an artisan's studio, complete with an art gallery,
art studio, cyber café, and coffee shop. "The project was
awesome! So much so, many of the guys expressed an interest in
doing it again in the near future," said Brent Pliskow, Marx AZA
advisor.

March of the Living:
A Holocaust Education Program

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Michigan Region in Bulgaria

Danniell Nadiv of
Graham BBG represented
Michigan Region as one of
15 participants on BBYO's
Youth Ambassadors to
Bulgaria program,
December 21-31, 2003.
The delegation was
accompanied throughout
the trip by a like number of
Bulgarian BBYOers from the
chapters in Sofia and
Plovdiv. This was the third
BBYO Bulgaria trip in which
Michigan BBYO had
participants.

(1 to R): Alie Ferst (GA), Alya Pekova (Sofia), Marina Tzekova (Sofia),

Danniell Nadiv (Michigan Region), David Apfel (MA).

Donor Sought

continued from page 1

So, through the cooperation of the Jewish Federation of Metro
Detroit and the Fresh Air Society, a parcel of land on the edge of
the Camp Maas property in Ortonville, Michigan, has been
obtained to build a new conference center for BBYO. It is a
beautiful wooded piece of land an hour away from the West
Bloomfield JCC campus. It is an idyllic place for a retreat, and a
5700 sq. ft. building is planned. The new center will feature a large
dining room/multi purpose room that will also be used for services,
a living room/programming area, a kosher kitchen, and separate
AZA/BBG wings, each with a modern bathroom, five
4-person bedrooms, and a separate advisor bedroom/private
bathroom. It will not be fancy - but rather lodge-like.

"In our home away from home, we
have the responsibility of creating the
Jewish atmosphere ourselves,
therefore encouraging us to grow as
Whitney Aidenbaum
Jewish adults. "

Michigan BBYOers comprised 10 of the 83 youth who
participated in the national BBYO delegation to the March of the
Living, which took place from April 14-28, in Poland and Israel. In
Poland, the program included visits to Treblinka, Auschwitz,
Birkenau, and Majdanek, as well as the site of the former Warsaw
Ghetto. On Yom Hashoah, thousands of Jewish youth marched
from Auschwitz to Birkenau to attest to the survival of the Jewish
people. The trip then went on to Israel where the youth were able
to learn about the rebirth of the Jewish nation-state. Here they
participated in the Yom Hazikaron ceremony remembering the
soldiers who have fallen in Israel's wars and then join in the
celebration of 56 years of statehood on Yom Ha'atzmaut.

Although the youth continue to love the Milan Centre, which
they feel is well "broken in," they are extremely excited about the
project. But funding for the building can only be managed if a
major donor is found. With the help of the Jewish Federation,
BBYO is now in the process of trying to find a donor interested in
furthering the development of our Jewish youth within the BBYO
program.
This retreat will affect the lives of the more than one thousand
Jewish youth that participate in BBYO annually. The name that is
displayed at the front door of this retreat will become a household
word to these BBYO youth and their families. Any interest in this
project should be directed to Arnie Weiner, the Executive Director
of Michigan BBYO at 248-788-0700.

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