To Life!
N
A T
Iled Fo dvaiser
Annabel Berlin, 9, of Huntington Woods plays air hockey.
Andrew Luckoff,
16, of West
Bloomfield and
Erika Meltzer,
16, of West
Bloomfield take
a break from
volunteering.
Near right: Event
co-chairs David
Ungar of Oak Park
with his daugh-
ter Sara, 12, and
Barry Leshman of
Huntington Woods.
Far right:
Avery, 4, and
Heather Salesin
of Bloomfield Hills
A.J. Falik of Royal Oak and Rena Friedberg of Huntington Woods get
into the spirit of the event.
SpringElation raises $570,000 for JARC's
programs for children and families.
Eric Adelman
Special to the Jewish News
M
ore than 1,000 people attended JARC's ninth annual SpringElation fund-
raiser on April 29 at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse in Shelby Township.
Kids of all ages enjoyed a ropes course and climbing wall, laser tag,
miniature golf, video arcade, giant slide, basketball, in-line hockey and carnival
games. Guests snacked on summer-inspired food from Matt Prentice's Milk & Honey
Restaurant in West Bloomfield.
"It's a riot," said Sandy Bittker of Franklin. "My kids are old enough to help out as
volunteers and they love being there. I enjoy seeing my JARC friends and interacting
with the people JARC serves. We had a great time."
As JARC's largest fundraiser for the Merle and Shirley Harris Children and Family
Division, SpringElation supporters raised more than $570,000 this year. The Harris
Division serves more than 400 children of any age and with any disability — including
autism, developmental delays, physical and emotional disabilities — and their families.
Joyce Keller, JARC's executive director, said SpringElation has become one of JARC's
most important events, "as more and more children with disabilities and their families
are impacted by the services we provide. JARC is filling a true need for these families,
thanks to the generosity of our SpringElation donors."
Lindsay Gross, one of this year's SpringElation chairs, got involved when he learned
that all the funds raised provide 90 percent of the Harris Division's budget.
"It made me realize how important the event is for me and our community because,
without it, hundreds of kids would not have services that they and their families need,"
he said.
Event chairs were David Friedman, West Bloomfield; Lindsay Gross, Franklin; Barry
Leshman, Huntington Woods; and David Ungar, Oak Park. Rock Financial was the
SpringElation title sponsor. Event sponsors were Gary Gilbert and the Nancy and James
Grosfeld Foundation. [ - 1
Eric Adelman is resource and program development manager at Farmington Hills-based JARC.
May 10 2007
29