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Elegant Overview

ORT introduces young women to
global education, job retraining.

Lynne Meredith Schreiber
Special to the Jewish News

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24 February 11 • 2010

iN

RT is a place where everyone
knows your name — and
cares that you're there.
That was the focus
of Doreen Hermelin's
message on Feb. 3 at
the Townsend Hotel in
Birmingham, where
35 women gathered to
learn about the work
' _ x
ORT America is pur-
Doreen
suing here and abroad.
Hermelin
The mostly 30- and
40-something women
also got a taste of how they might get
involved on a local and national level
from some of the women who have led
the way during the last half-century.
As the ORT America president for the
past three years, Hermelin was the draw
of the morning event. The Bingham
Farms resident ends her leadership post
next month at the ORT national conven-
tion in Chicago on March 7.
"I got involved in ORT 43 years ago
for social reasons:' Hermelin says.
It didn't take long for her to become
devoted to the cause, though, along
with her late husband, U.S. Ambassador
David Hermelin. Both have been vocal
leaders and proponents for ORT on a
local, national and international level.
"ORT was started in Russia 130 years
ago, to teach Jews skills so they could
get work," Hermelin explained.
She recently visited the school in
Poland where ORT was in the Warsaw
Ghetto. "ORT follows Jews wherever
we go, to help Jews in every country
be employed immediately. In some
countries, ORT helps people to continue
being Jewish."
In Cuba, for example, ORT is the only
organization allowed to connect all
points of the Jewish community on the
Internet.
In fact, a staple of ORT education
today is technology, including the
free job retraining classes offered at
the David B. Hermelin ORT Resource
Center in the D. Dan and Betty Kahn
Building of Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield. Hermelin ORT
director Shaindle Braunstein-Cohen
spoke about the work being done at the
center to help Michigan residents get

back on their feet and find work in an
increasingly difficult job market.
"One in every four people in
Michigan is now looking for work,"
Braunstein-Cohen says. "Everyone
knows somebody looking for a job. We
try to remove any obstacles to learning
these skills!'
Patti Aaron, the daughter of D. Dan
Kahn and founder of the Hermelin
ORT Resource Center, also spoke at the
Townsend, about the "depth and pas-
sion" that drew her to ORT and keeps
her tied to the organization.
"Education enables people, it builds
self-esteem, it teaches about commu-
nity;' says Aaron. "We're all connected.
I like repairing the whole fabric of the
world — Jew and non-Jew. ORT is on
the cutting edge — our programs really
empower and build self-esteem. When
we go into poor communities, we change
those communities for the better."
Nicole Muchnick, ORT America-
Michigan Region director, gave a
thorough overview of the organization,
including mention of the 63 countries
in which ORT provides schools and
job retraining programs. She invited
various event co-chairs to speak about
upcoming events, including Laura
Gorosh and Marlo Scott, who are co-
chairing Glamorous Giving at Neiman
Marcus on Feb. 25.
Other speakers included Julie Hirsch
and Sylvia Wolf, two of the four co-chairs
of WINGO, Women's Bingo, which will
take place April 28 at Congregation Beth
Ahm in West Bloomfield; Laura Gorosh
for Rub-a-Dub (Aug. 26 at Franklin
Hills); Muchnick for Camp Hermelin
(Oct. 3 at the Hermelin home); and
Nicole Kovacs, who spoke about the
recent mission to Argentina.
"I've seen so much of the world
through ORT," says Hermelin. "We are
so blessed to be able to do this — to
keep our Jews Jewish and provide an
amazing education to so many."

Lynne Meredith Schreiber is the marketing

consultant and publicist for ORT America-

Michigan Region. She is chief creative offi-

cer of Your People LLC., Southfield.

For more information about ORT
America-Michigan Region, call
(248) 723-8860 or visit
www.ortmichigan.org .

