Metro

FRED M. BUTZEL MEMORIAL AWARD

Robert Slatkin from page 17

Right:

1974: Federation's Young Leadership

Cabinet members included Judy Frankel

and Donna and Bob Slatkin

Below:

1997: Bob Slatkin with Detroit Jewish

community leaders

David and Doreen Hermelin

1977: Federation's Wetsman Young Leadership Award winner Bob

Slatkin with his wife, Donna, and his mother, Esther !merman

1971: Federation's Junior Division annual meeting, Bob Slatkin and

Mickey Maddin

him, he'd say, Don't thank me. You've
taken an opportunity and have done good
things with it."

Foundation Years
Throughout his communal career and
especially as president of the United
Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit
from 1997-2000, Slatkin was known as a
peacemaker who dealt with difficult situ-
ations — whether it was working with
the Wad to allow a kosher restaurant at
the JCC, building a mikvah, developing
a memorial exhibit to the Jewish War
Veterans [now at the West Bloomfield
JCC] or trying to convince the Holocaust
Memorial Center to remain on the Eugene
and Marcia Applebaum Campus in West
Bloomfield.
Bringing up the name of a Civil War
general, Federation's outgoing chief execu-
tive officer Robert Aronson joked,"I often
referred to Bobby as Gen. George Pickett,
who was known for his futile charges
against an entrenched and impossible
enemy position. In truth, as president of
the Foundation, he did a lot of that. Bobby

18

October 8 • 2009

would take on any task, no matter how
daunting or how difficult; and in doing so,
he made decisions that ensured the future
of this Jewish community"
Slatkin said he considered himself lucky
to become Foundation president during a
booming economy.
"That led to exceptional growth of our
general fund and allowed us to make annu-
al grants in the $5 million range,' he said.
He was also instrumental in the concept
of the Jewish Life Fund, an opportunity
for all levels of endowment donors to par-
ticipate in Millennium Fund projects that
benefitted programs involving teens, fami-
lies, trips to Israel, leadership development
opportunities — the types of informal
education programs that kept Slatkin
involved and excited about being Jewish.
"The watchword for the Jewish Life
Fund was inclusiveness for all streams of
Jewish belief and all levels of charitable
giving," he said.
Slatkin was also one of the first to con-
ceive of the "Legacy" gift, which became
the Detroit Legacy Initiative and includes
testamentary PACE and Detroit Legacy

Fund commitments.
"As Foundation president, Bob was
uniquely focused on the stewardship role
that Foundation plays in protecting and
preserving community assets:' said Mark
Davidoff, former Federation chief operat-
ing officer. "Bob conceived and led the
Grant Makers Mission to Israel in 1998.
It served to open the door for the Jewish
community to the non-Jewish Foundation
grant-making world."
"No one has worked harder that Bob
Slatkin in the Jewish community in so
many areas in the last 40 years:' said
Michael "Mickey" Maddin, the 2003 Butzel
winner. "A worrier by nature, it makes him
a perfect person to analyze a problem and
work through it to effective solutions."

Home And Work Life
Slatkin is a developer of apartment build-
ings in Metro Detroit. His Farmington
Hills office is filled with a collection of
Native American and Western artifacts.
"Bob and I are both lovers of art:' said
his wife, Donna. "We have been collecting
since early in our marriage and luck-

ily we have very similar tastes. We love
contemporary art, antiques and artifacts.
We also enjoy traveling and have visited
many significant Jewish cities around the
world, including historic Jewish Quarters
in Prague and Budapest, synagogues in
Florence, Istanbul, Cape Town, Buenos
Aires, Moscow, St. Petersberg, Shanghai
and Hong Kong and the concentration
camps in Krakow.
The Slatkins have a son, Jay, of Troy
and a daughter ,Andrea, who lives in
Livingston, N.J., with her husband, Philip
Bershad, and children, Ellie, 6, and Jack, 3.
"Bob has always believed that Jewish
people need to help each other, and that
this is a responsibility, not a choice;'
Donna said. "His feelings go beyond mon-
etary contributions. He has also found it
important to give of his time. Whenever he
accepts a role in the community, he takes
it very seriously as if it is his own personal
business!' ❑

Harry Kirsbaum is associate director, mar-
keting and communications, for the Jewish

Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.