nies For Their Thoughts
The Tzedekah Experience teaches children about giving,
while the Penny Harvest raises thousands.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor
1 oshua Sider is only 10 years
old, but after attending the
Tzedakah Fair he has become
something of an expert on charitable
dollars.
First, he collected money through
the annual Penny Harvest. Then,
funds in hand, he came to the
Tzedakah Fair held Jan. 30 at
Temple Beth El.
Josh, of Huntington Woods, care-
fully considered where he might
donate his funds. He wanted very
much to give to the homeless, but
found no Jewish organization
locally that deals solely with
this issue. So he studied his
options, and he thought a lot
and finally settled on Jewish
Family Service.
And now here's something quite
amazing: Josh's money will go exact-
ly where he wanted. In fact, all chil-
dren who participated in the
Tzedakah Fair were allowed to deter-
mine where to donate their money
— totaling more than $10,000.
"Here was a group of fifth-graders
actually making a difference ,in their
community," said Michelle Sider,
Josh's mom and an assistant chair of
the Penny Harvest. "It was so
empowering."
The annual event was sponsored
by the Jewish News, Temple Beth El,
- the Jewish Federation's Women's
Campaign and Education
Department, Federation's Alliance
for Jewish Education and Bank
One of Michigan. The DeRoy
Testamentary Foundation was a
corporate partner.
This year, more than 350 chil-
dren attended, marking the pro-
gram's biggest crowd ever. In fact, so
13
many participants came to the
Tzedakah Fair that virtually every
supply (such as the popular making
hats for the homeless) was used up.
"There was such an excitement,"
said Lisa Soble Siegmann, associate
director of Federation's Alliance for
Jewish Education's Jewish
Experiences for Families (JEFF) and
Informal Education. "The kids were
really learning and the parents were
really learning. Everyone went away
with something. It was really a
meaningful program."
This year's Tzedakah Experience
featured stations where children had
a chance to hear about giving, about
local charitable organizations and
about the Jewish Federation. Groups
were divided, then moved from table
to table, not just to learn but to par-
ticipate as well.
Each child received a bag of seven
questions he or she had to answer by
learning about the various charities.
"Helen really wants to go to dental
school," a question might begin.
"But she has no money for this. To
which Jewish agency should she turn
for help?"
Or, "The Gold family has a devel-
opmentally disabled son. They can-
Dallas Warshaw, 10, of Bloomfield Hills place coins in a bag.