Metro

Merry Mitzvah from page 31

mother, Nancy, of Bloomfield
Township along.
"I thought it was important to
come out and do something ben-
eficial to help others," Elizabeth
said.
The day began with a quick •
breakfast at the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building in
Bloomfield Township. Then .
groups led by site coordinators
headed off to different locations
for 2- to 4-hour shifts. Volunteers
ranged in age from kids to octo-
genarians.
"We had over 30 volunteer site
coordinators," Greenberg said.
She said Jennifer Noparstak was
the backbone of Mitzvah Day. The
fellow senior staff associate did all
the detail work for Mitzvah Day
before leaving Dec. 21 for Israel on
Federation's Family Miracle
Mission, Ivhich ultimately drew
more than 730 participants.
While bells jingled and carolers
caroled, the Jewish volunteers at
Gleaners Community Food Bank in
Pontiac on Christmas Day sorted
and organized. Families rummaged
through large boxes of food cans,
sorted out damaged ones and re-
packaged them for distribution.
Gleaners, which is largely volunteer
run, eceives food from sources like
farms, businesses and food manu-
facturers. It distributes to 440 emer-
gency food pantries around south-
east Michigan, -including churches,
synagogues, soup kitchens, emer-
gency shelters and pantries.
Brittany Gonte, 13, of Bloomfield
Hills showed up at Gleaners with an
arm cast. "It's actually a lot fun,
even though it's hard to do with a
broken arm," she said, sorting with
one hand alongside her mother,
Sonja.
"I really feel a part of communal
giving," said Nathan Segall, 14, of
Huntington Woods. "I feel if any-

32

December 29 • 2005

Sheldon Gonte of Bloomfield Hills checks date code on cans for freshness.

body comes and helps, they'll feel a
part of it."
Nathan was there with his par-
ents, Hardy and Eve, and siblings,
Mitchell, 18, and Roxanne, 10.
The Gleaners' site was only one of
the Christmas Day volunteer oppor-
tunities. Jews also delivered Meals
on Wheels, prepared and served
food at relief kitchens, and visited
homes for the aged. A group pitched
in at the South Oakland Shelter set
up in St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic
Church in Bloomfield Hills.
Some volunteers visited homes •
for girls and boys with emotional
issues — like Vista Maria, a home
in Dearborn for troubled girls.
"That's an amazing experience,"
Greenberg said. "Some volunteers go
there year after year."
The Dearborn-based Ford Motor
Co. sponsored Mitzvah Day. Micki
Grossman of West Bloomfield and
Josh Lerner of Huntington Woods
co-chaired the annual event.
"It's wonderful that people use
their day off for helping others," said
Lerner. "Mitzvah Day drives home a
sense of community and there is a
wonderful energy as Jews of all ages
spread out and work as one for a
common goal." ❑

Madeliene Gonte 9, Bloomfield Hills and Alex Sherman 9, Birmingham join in sorting.

Evelyn Gold of Farmington Hills

and Rhonda Pliskow of Huntington

Woods sort oyster crackers.