Metro
Tons Of Help
Volunteers start the new year working to alleviate hunger.
Ar___
Yad Ezra President Allan Sefton of Beverly Hills piles sorted items into a cart.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
ust one day after Yad Ezra's Yom
Kippur Food Drive ended, tens of
thousands of pounds of grocer-
ies, healthcare items and household goods
were already delivered to the Berkley-
based kosher food pantry for sorting.
Collection sites included area syna-
gogues, schools and agencies.
"Sixty volunteers, including the Jewish
j
Mackenzie Newman, 9, of Huntington
Woods and Marilyn Moses of West
Bloomfield place donated toiletry
items in a box.
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's "It's
a Mitzvah" day participants, picked up,
unloaded, sorted and boxed the food:' said
Lea Luger, development director at Yad
Ezra.
Some synagogues and Hillel Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington
Hills provided volunteers to deliver the
donations to the agency.
The group took advantage of the mild
Sept. 23 weather to work outdoors sepa-
rating the items into bins, carts and boxes
Joshua Chynowerth, 7, of Livonia checks
the label on a can of donated baby for-
mula.
Volunteers Corinne Moses and Marlee Newman, both 11 and of Huntington Woods,
carry armloads of donated food items.
lined up along Yad Ezra's driveway.
"First, we sort kosher versus items that
don't meet the level of certification that
we follow:' Luger said. "Next, we sort by
category based on our shopping list, like
tuna, peanut butter, cereal, pasta, canned
fruit, canned vegetables, juice, salmon,
flour and rice."
A final count of donated items is not
yet in, but Luger said, "Typically, we get
around 30,000 pounds of food, of which
we are able to distribute three-quarters."
Pounds and pounds of donated food from
the Yom Kippur drive
Items that cannot be used by Yad Ezra
go to Gleaners Community Food Bank of
Southeast Michigan.
"Nothing goes to waste, and they end up
getting a lot of nice treats;' Luger said.
Yad Ezra's 1,200 client families —
nearly 2,500 Jewish individuals — rely
on Yad Ezra every month for assistance.
More than 800,000 pounds of groceries
are distributed annually.
"The food drive is an example of the
community joining together at the holi-
est time of the year not just to remember
those in need, but to do something to
help," Luger said. "This drive provides
families with the opportunity to 'walk the
walk' by shopping with their children for
items to be donated, bringing the food to
Yad Ezra or volunteering at the warehouse
to sort and box food. In addition, the
variety of food donated provides a nice
assortment of food items our clients don't
usually receive. Everyone benefits — it's a
win-win." PI
To make a donation to Yad Ezra,
access the Web site at yadezra.
orq, call (248) 548-3663 or send a
check to Yad Ezra, 2850 W.11 Mile,
Berkley, MI 48072. For information
on becoming a Yad Ezra client or to
volunteer at Yad Ezra, call or send
an e-mail to lea@yadezra.org or
elaine®yadezra.org .
October 4 • 2007
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