ueeg a! buv Aq ojoy d B elS

Shira, 10, and Ellen Starr of

Farmington Hills train for the JN's

Race for Hunger.

Ready Set,

Race for Hunger offers community
the chance to get involved.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

W

alking and talk-
ing, they decided,
is a good way to get
healthy and raise money for good
causes.
So Shira Starr, 10, and her
mother, Ellen, have
been training fairly
regularly to get in
shape for the JN's
Race for Hunger,
starting at 9 a.m. this
Sunday, May 7, at
Oakland Community
College's Orchard
Ridge campus in
Farmington Hills. The Plotkin
2- or 5-mile walk/run
benefits kosher food pantry Yad
Ezra and Gleaners Food Bank of
Southeastern Michigan.
"I like helping people and I
wanted to help people who need
food',' said Shira, a Farmington
Hills fifth-grader. "And it's very
special to do this with my mom."
They'll leave father, Joe, and
brothers Zachary, 10, and Evan, 7,
at home for this one. But the fam-
ily has participated in other walks
— one for diabetes and another
for epilepsy — so Shira says she
is not daunted by the five miles.
So far, through a door-to-door
campaign in her neighborhood,
Shira has raised more than $110.
Hannah Plotkin of Huntington
Woods, who will be 12 on May 16,

problem and act as a catalyst for
community action. The Race for
Hunger is the JN's first full-scale
communitywide event of this
kind. Support for the effort has
come from various sectors of the
Jewish community and beyond.
For example, top finishers in all
categories of the Race for Hunger
will receive medals bearing the
IN community service logo pro-
vided by Tapper's Diamonds &
Fine Jewelry in West Bloomfield.
"This is our first race and
it's very exciting for us to be
involved;' said Steve Tapper. "We
love being in the luxury jewelry
business with all the sparkling
things we sell, but we also enjoy
our responsibility to the com-
munity."
Other major sponsors for
the race include Oakland A
Communications Partner in Troy,
Noodles & Co. in Farmington
Hills, Asics, Running Fit,
Rock Financial in Livonia, the
Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit, New York
Bagel and Insurance Partners
Agency Inc. of Southfield.
If you think you need a crash
course in getting ready for the
Race for Hunger, go to
JNonline.us and click on the race
banner at the top of the page,
then click on JNcarathon Info.
That will take you to six weeks'
worth of advice from coach
Randy Step of Running Fit. He'll
get you motivated! fl

How To Go

The JN Race for Hunger is a 2- or 5-mile run/walk on the rolling Orchard
Ridge campus of Oakland Community College, off Farmington Road, just south
of 1-696. There's also a diaper dash for children ages 2-5. Early registration is
$18, with $5 for the diaper dash. Race-day registration is $25 for the run/walk
and $5 for the diaper dash. You may register early at JNcarathon.com or
JNonline.us/hunger or at any area Running Fit store.
Packet pick-up begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, May 7. The diaper dash begins
at 8:45 a.m. The run/walk begins at 9 a.m. This is a certified course. Proceeds
benefit Yad Ezra and Gleaners Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. Additional
donations gladly accepted. For more information, call (248) 351-5164.
To get ready, load up on carbs at Noodles & Co. on Northwestern, east of 14
Mile from 5-9 p.m. Saturday, May 6; 10 percent of sales will benefit the race.

= 2 Mile Run
= 5 Mile Run

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MID OM 411•10

decided to peg her birthday party
to the Race for Hunger. She's
invited 20 friends to walk and jog
With her.
"I've had parties.at the mall
and sleepovers — this will be
something to help the hungry in
Our community and it'll be fun
to do something different this
year',' said Hannah, who
is involved in sports.
"We'll come back to
my house for birthday
cake. My friends think
its cool."
Lea Luger, develop-
ment director at Yad
Ezra, has been hitting
her treadmill in prepa-
ration for the Race for
Hunger.
"It's an opportunity to not just
talk the talk — but to walk the
walk;' she said.
The Berkley-based pantry ser-
vices 1,100 families or 2,400 indi-
viduals a month, and its school
lunch program provides food for
700 students from low-income
families.
Gleaners, which supplies food
to Yad Ezra and other area food
banks, will be supplying 40 or so
volunteers to help staff the race
on Sunday.
The Jewish News began its
yearlong battle against hunger
last Rosh Hashanah. This dedicat-
ed advocacy program has includ-
ed food drives as well as stories
and commentary to spotlight the

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May

4 • 2006

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