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Memory, History and
Bottle Deposits
Allison Gold, 17, of West
Bloomfield combined her pas-
sion for Israel, family heritage
and recycling to turn used cans
and bottles into something more.
She was participating on
Federation's 2006 Teen Mission
in Israel when the Second
Lebanon War broke out and
Allison Gold, 17, of West
the trip was cut short. Back in
Bloomfield raised $676 for Magen
Detroit, she decided to initiate
David Adorn. She gives her check
a fundraising project to help
to Jonathon Feldstein of the
Israelis.
American Friends for MDA.
She began collecting bottles
and cans and returning them
for deposit. This became a communal activity with people dropping off
full bags of empty cans and bottles on her front lawn. She personally
handled some 5,000 of the nearly 7,000 collected.
Her plan to raise money became more earnest when her grandfather,
Avrum Fleish, died in November 2006. She wanted to continue this
project in memory of an ardent Zionist who instilled in his children and
grandchildren a love for Judaism and a passion for Israel.
Because of the war, Allison realized how people depended on Magen
David Adorn (MDA), Israel's EMS and humanitarian organization, to
save lives. During the summer of 2007, Allison was in Israel as a Detroit
participant of the Diller Teen Fellows program. She stayed an addi-
tional two weeks to travel with her mother, who was visiting family and
friends.
They visited the MDA EMS station in Haifa, under the auspices of the
American Friends of MDA. She met some of the heroes who saved lives
and provided security for residents of northern Israel during the war.
Allison presented her check for $676 from the bottles to Eli Cohen, an
MDA paramedic who oversaw ambulances dispatches from the Haifa
region during the war.
That Allison chose to raise this money through recycling, which
preserves the past and turns it into something valuable for the future,
clearly honors her grandfather. Sometimes you get more than 10 cents
back when you recycle an empty plastic bottle.
For information, contact the American Friends of Magen David Adorn
at www.afmda.org or (866) 632-2763.
- Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor
Local Vegan Kest In The Running
What do the Tonight Show With Jay Leno band leader Kevin Eubanks
and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood have in common? They
are the reigning king and queen of PETAs (People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) annual Sexiest
Vegetarian Alive contest. Now that contest has been
expanded to include the non-celebrities. Jonny
Kest, 40, of Birmingham beat out hundreds of other
entrants from across the U.S. and Canada to become
one of 16 male finalists.
A master yoga instructor who runs two yoga cen-
Jonny Kest
ters and holds national conferences, Kest went veg-
etarian at age 12 and cut out all dairy products two
years ago. He thanks his father for teaching him to be
compassionate to animals and to respect his body. He also attributes his
amazing energy level to his healthy vegan diet.
"I am lighter, stronger, freer and happier," he says. He hands out vegan
brochures at his studios and speaks publicly about the negative conse-
quences — for humans and animals — of eating meat, eggs and dairy
products. He's turned on more than a few of his students to the benefits
of a vegan lifestyle. Kest enjoys reading, meditation and taking long
walks with his wife. She and their three sons also are vegans. Kest likes
A8
February 21 • 2003
the ocean and "anything organic." His turnoffs include cruelty, quick
fixes and people who are always in a hurry.
"On average, vegetarians are slimmer and healthier than meat-eat-
ers," says Bruce Friedrich, PETA vice president. "One look at our radiant
lineup of sexy vegetarian finalists and it's clear that they're all winners:'
To vote, read Kest's bio and see his photo, go to goveg.com . The win-
ners, who will be announced in mid-March, will spend seven nights in
Maui.
- Keri Guten Cohen, story development editor
Kwame's Investigator
The Detroit City Council on Feb. 14 unanimously appointed attorney
William H. "Bill" Goodman to represent it in investigating Detroit Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick and the city's Law Department. The case involves
the continuing scandal over the firing of three police
officers and secret details of a $9 million settlement
in their case against the city, plus the text messaging-
sex scandal and possible perjury involving Kilpatrick
and his chief of staff. The Wayne County Prosecutor's
Office also is investigating the case.
Goodman, 67, is known for his civil rights and
human rights work. A graduate of Detroit Mumford
Bill Goodman
High School and the University of Chicago law school,
he returned to Detroit to work with his father, Ernest,
a nationally known civil rights attorney who, with George Crockett Jr.,
the late congressman and judge, opened the first integrated law firm in
the United States.
The Goodmans led the defense team for prisoners charged in the
1971 Attica, N.Y., prison riots. In 1985, Bill Goodman and Robert Sedler,
now a Wayne State University law professor, successfully challenged a
City of Dearborn ordinance prohibiting non-residents from using its
parks.
Ernest Goodman made his mark defending sitdown strikers at Ford
Motor Co. in the 1930s. He was UAW associate general counsel in the
1940s and mobilized lawyers to fight segregation in the South in the
1950s. Bill Goodman won a major case in the 1960s, alleging that the
FBI had deliberately failed to protect Freedom Riders during the civil
rights era.
In 1998, a year after his father's death at age 90, Bill Goodman
became legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, based in
New York. He supervised 15 lawyers working on racial profiling, police
brutality and international human rights cases.
He has worked on behalf of terror suspects held by the U.S. at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and his center filed a lawsuit in Germany
against U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Daniel Rumsfeld,
on behalf of four Iraqis who claimed they were tortured while in U.S.
custody. He also filed a case in 2006 against the Bush administration's
domestic surveillance program.
Goodman returned to Michigan last year and opened a law practice
in Royal Oak with his ex-wife, Julie Hurwitz.
You've seen the printed sec-
tion each month in the JN;
now Teen2Teen goes online!
This week look for teen volun-
teer opportunities, a full inter-
view with Amy Goldwasser
about her book of teen girls'
essays and a view of the Auto
Show from Seth Samuels.
Only at JNt2t.com .
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Poll Question
- Alan Hitsky, associate editor
Last week's poll results:
Are you a member of a social
network Web page?
Yes 33%
No 67%
SLEW 'cha Don't Know
Which English-speaking nation in the Caribbean
with over 1 million citizens has a Jewish popula-
tion of only around 50 individuals?
-Goldfein
'obeqoi pue pep!upi :JaMsuy
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