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don't know
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new name,
do you think
they know yours?
Our Mission
Our mission is to develop
and maintain banking
relationships with
customers who truly
value exceptional service.
We believe that there's a need for a real
community bank in Oakland County — a bank
where the directors, shareholders, and employees
all live in the same area as our customers.
We've created a bank where customers can
come in at any time and talk face to face
with the people who make decisions, not get
forwarded to bureaucratic loan committees in
remote locations.
Special CD Rates
1.25% APY* 1.50% APY *
9-Month CD 18-Month CD
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*Annual percentage yield for balances of 5500 minimum. Rates effective12/07/09.
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STAR
COMMUNITY BANK
31780 Telegraph Rd I Bingham Farms, MI 48025
phone 248-645-8888 I 866-353-BANK I fax 248-530-2879
WWWinstarcommunitybank.com
1557100
30
December 10 • 2009
World
First Class from page 29
to provide a better environment for par-
ticipants to absorb the information.
Despite their popularity, the frequen-
cy of Birthright trips for the disabled is
limited due to budgetary constraints.
"It's an expensive trip to run and
we can't do it again': Hillel's director of
immersion, Andrea Hoffman, said of
a trip for the mobile impaired. "People
have asked us if we could get private
funding and we have a lot of requests."
The costs of the trips for the disabled
are higher for several reasons. Each
group has a higher staff-to-participant
ratio — one to three on the Asperger's
trip, for example, compared with one to
20 for regular Birthright trips.
In addition, some groups need spe-
cific and sometimes expensive facilities.
Mobile-impaired groups need special
buses that can accommodate more than
20 people in wheelchairs, and organiz-
ers have to scout every destination to
make sure they are wheelchair acces-
sible.
Laura Siegel, who went on a trip for
the hearing impaired two summers ago,
said the experience was transformative.
"I feel that this trip would leave a
long-lasting impression for every deaf
Jewish young adult out there in the
United States, as it did for me',' Siegel
said. "We started out as strangers and
ended up almost feeling like a family,
and all it took was 10 days up close and
personal sharing this amazing journey."
Lior Baruch, an Israeli special-
needs teacher who has escorted three
Asperger's trips and will take part in
the one in December, said one moment
during his last trip sticks out.
"A few hours after the group landed
in Israel, they stood on the Armon
Hanatziv promenade overlooking
Jerusalem': Baruch recalled. "You
could see the excitement in their eyes.
Some took nonstop pictures. Others
called their parents. It was a touching
momene
Rabbi Elsye Winick, associate direc-
tor of Koach and one of the organizers
of the Asperger's trip, said one of the
most powerful moments on past trips
came when her group met Israelis with
Asperger's.
"It was an eye-opening experience
Winick said. "It was an experience
to realize that on the other side of
the world there were people just like
them:'
Jeffery Odols, who is deaf and
took part in a Birthright trip for the
hearing impaired, raves about the
experience. He said it included many
memorable moments, such as visiting
the Bedouin in the Negev Desert. i