Metro
Merry Mitzvah Day!
Jewish outreach on Christmas attracts hundreds of helpful volunteers.
Peffin Lee of Philadelphia and Rebecca
Sanfield of Farmington Hills find the
proper boxes for donated food items at
Gleaners Food Bank in Pontiac as part of
Federation's Mitzvah Day.
Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News
A
funny thing happens when
you're busy making other people
happy, you often end up with a
smile on your own face. That's what more
than 800 local Jewish volunteers found out
while visiting churches, nursing homes,
soup kitchens and other social service
agencies while performing acts of kind-
ness during the annual Mitzvah Day vol-
unteer effort Dec. 25.
In the spirit of this year's theme, "make
someone happy:' many volunteers wore T-
shirts featuring big smiley faces.
"It's a great feeling to serve somebody a
meal, entertain them at a nursing home or
to pack food you know is going to some-
one who's hungry," said Todd Mendel of
Birmingham, president of the Bloomfield
Township-based Jewish Community
Relations Council (JCRC). He and his
family spent the day working at Gleaner's
Community Food Bank in Pontiac. "When
you do a good thing, you feel good about
it."
Volunteer Betsy Blackman of Novi and her sons Matthew, 8, and Mitchell, 5, help sort food at Gleaners.
The JCRC co-sponsors Mitzvah Day with
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and corporate partner, Ford Motor
Company. Micki Grossman of Farmington
Hills and Jeanne Maxbauer of Bloomfield
Hills served as event chairs.
Bingo With Seniors
In Southfield, Hillary Hacker, 16, of
Clarkston was part of a group that played
bingo with seniors at the Heatherwood
Retirement Community, one of 53 volun-
teer sites in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb
counties. Her parents, Leslie and Ken
Hacker, and younger sister, Jamie, 12,
also participated along with Sandy and
Sherwin Labovitz of Birmingham, their
10-year-old twins, Lily and Joey, and
Susan Sabbath of Huntington Woods and
her daughter, Madison, 10. The children
handed out bingo cards, shiny red and
green necklaces, candy and prizes to the
elderly participants.
"G-50. Gee, I wish I were 50 again," Ken
Hacker said as he called out the bingo
numbers over a loud-speaker.
"It feels really good to do this:' said
Hillary Hacker, a first-time Mitzvah Day
volunteer. "I've had relatives in nursing
homes and we've
always tried to visit
them as much as
possible, but I've
seen people who
don't have any visi-
tors. It's sad because
I know they really
need companionship,
especially on a day
like Christmas, which
is such a family-ori-
ented day:'
Mitzvah Day began Carly Goldring, 8, with her mom, Carri Goldring of West
in 1991 with a few
Bloomfield, engage in the mitzvah of helping to feed others
dozen volunteers
through their efforts at Gleaners Food Bank on Dec. 25.
in an effort to give
Christian workers the
day off to spend the
holiday with their families. The JCRC says
ment facility for teenage girls suffering
it's now the largest single day of volunteer- from mental illness, substance abuse and
ing in Detroit's Jewish community. The
emotional trauma.
agencies receiving the help are as grateful
"I can't tell you what it means to them
as the seniors, children and needy families to open gifts, play games, sing songs and
who benefit.
just spend time with upbeat, family-like
"Every year, the Jewish volunteers take
volunteers who are so focused on them:'
time away from their own families to be
she added.
here said Pat Lynett, CEO of Vista Maria
"Some of the girls wouldn't have a holi-
in Dearborn Heights, a residential treat-
day visitor otherwise" ❑
J14
January 3 • 2008
A13