r

LT 4

y

T i ON

Gabe Faber, 12, of Southfield, John:
Johnson, 13, of Detroit and Daniel

Benaderet, 13, of West Bloomfield

Sara Hyman, 14, of
Southfield andTP

.

Johnson,12,

Gettin' Their
KICKS

Akiva students, Kids Kicking Cancer
meet for an afternoon of fun.

Elizabeth Applebaum
Contributing Editor

N

obody could top
Evangeline at the hula
hoop.
The 10-year-old is part of Kids
Kicking Cancer (KKC), but she's
also a master at the difficult task
of keeping that hoop spinning.
She amazed everyone at Akiva
Hebrew Day School in Southfield
with her skills, winning first
place in a hula-hoop contest.
Evangeline was one of many
KKC kids who came to the school
Sunday, May 7, where children
with cancer were paired with •
Akiva students for an afternoon
of dance, crafts and food. The
event was called Kids Kicking Up
Fun.
Akiva students and parent
volunteers gathered at the school

46

May 11 • 2006

to meet members of KKC and
their families. Guests gathered in
the cafeteria to decorate cookies
provided by Akiva parent Stacy
Carmen, and created jewelry
with Akiva math teacher Jessica
Glovak.
In the gym, l lth-grader Hallie
Platt of Southfield, who helped
organize the event, spoke to
guests, followed by entertain-
ment provided by Joe Cornell.
KKC and Akiva students
danced the cha cha and got mov-
ing to the cool sounds of that
cool song "Greased Lightning."
(Dancing, said Kaelyn, of KKC,
was just the best). Participants
played limbo and musical chairs
(this was the best, insisted Julia,
9, of KKC) and the challenging
hula-hoop contest.
KKC members gave Akiva
students an unforgettable mar-

,IN

tial-arts performance — KKC
teaches children how to use mar-
tial arts and other techniques as
part of their cancer treatment.
KKC founder and director Rabbi
Elimelech Goldberg called the
children "some of the most pow-
erful martial artists that grace
our planet."
"I really feel privileged to par-
ticipate in such a big mitzvah:'
said Noa Jerusalem, an Akiva
eighth-grader who lives in Oak
Park. "The event exceeded my
expectations," added ninth-
grader Miriam Barth, also of Oak
Park.
The program, organized
by Southfield residents Jill
Greenbaum, Ariella Nadel and
Shulamit Tsaidi, ended with pizza
donated by Cafe One, and snow
cones and cotton candy donated
by Phil Tewel.

❑

Lan' Levi, 13, of Southfield and

Kona Ursey, 11, of Pontiac