Family Focus
Power Of Purpose
Joe Cornell's Joe's Crew kids raise $5,100 for Kids Kicking Cancer.
Members of Joe's Crew dance up
a storm at their recent fundraiser.
Lynne Meredith Schreiber
Special to the Jewish News
W
hen Steve Jasgur and Becca
Schlussel created Joe's Crew, a
leadership initiative for self-
selected students in their Joe Cornell sixth-
grade dance classes, they hoped 10 kids
would sign on.
They were floored when 52 kids volun-
teered.And when participants raised $5,100
for Kids Kicking Cancer, the benefiting orga-
nization of their Jan. 18 dance-a-thon, Jasgur
and Schlussel were thrilled — and proud.
"Joe Cornell is a company of the commu-
nity, for the community',' says Jasgur, com-
pany president. "Our Joe's Crew initiative
was the perfect opportunity for students to
demonstrate social responsibility"
Joe's Crew started this academic year as a
way for Joe Cornell students to build leader-
ship skills and give back to the community.
The kids opted to dance for an hour straight
for pledges and they decided which local
children-focused charity to support. The
students also guided the planning, budget
and promotional efforts for the event.
The dance-a-thon took place at Orchard
Mall's Center Court in West Bloomfield.
The mall sponsored T-shirts and mall mer-
chants Guys N Gals and Frameable Faces
Photography donated 10 percent of the
evening's sales to Kids Kicking Cancer. Go
Balloonies donated balloons and Carnival
Treats donated fresh popcorn to the event.
50
February 18 * 2010
Raffle prizes for Joe's Crew kids were
donated by Zap Zone, Tone E Creative Video,
Marvelous Marvin's Mechanical Museum,
Frameable Faces Photography and Kids
Kicking Cancer.
The top-earning Joe Cornell class was the
Monday night Congregation B'nai Moshe
group taught by Jared Goldman; they collec-
tively raised $2,300.
A handful of students raised more than
$500 including Rachel Wasserman ($600),
Blair Bean ($500) and Caitlyn Newman,
Sarah Fradkin and Lexie Kay ($775 as a
trio).
Jared Moss, a sixth-grader at Walled
Lake Walnut Creek Middle School, is con-
sidering planning an additional fundrais-
er himself. His mother, Alyssa Moss, said,
"He went home feeling very good about
himself. Thanks to Joe Cornell for helping
to inspire at least one kid:'
"It was great for kids that age to see
a fundraiser through from beginning
to end:' says Marcy Wasserman of West
Bloomfield, mother of Rachel Wasserman.
"I felt great about Joe Cornell wanting to
give back to the community — this took
a lot of effort on their part to get the kids
Best friends Rachel Wasserman, 12, and Alexis Michaels, 11, both of West Bloomfield
together, organize meetings and really
accomplish something."
"It was a great event:' says Rachel, 12, a
student at Orchard Lake Middle School in
West Bloomfield. "It was pretty cool that
we set a goal of $3,500 and we way sur-
passed that. If the next year's Joe Cornell
kids get a chance to do this, I would defi-
nitely encourage them to say yes."
Blair Bean, 11, a sixth-grader at Warner
Middle School in Farmington Hills,
agrees.
"I wanted to get involved because I like
to help everybody and I want to make a
difference Blair says. "It was fun and I
felt really proud of myself. We all did."
The fundraiser began with a group
from Kids Kicking Cancer performing
martial arts. They were introduced by
KKC founder and national director Rabbi
Elimelech Goldberg and KKC president
Lila Lazarus.
"When others see the heroic focus
of even little children, their lives are
changed:' Goldberg says.
"All of us here at Kids Kicking Cancer
are truly touched by the support of the
Joe Cornell group:' says KKC instructor
Peter Davenport, 28, of Southfield. "Our
goal at KKC is to touch lives and build
relationships, and hopefully we now have
a long-lasting one with Joe Cornell." ❑
Lynne Meredith Schreiber is a local writer and
publicist as well as a 1984 Joe Cornell alumna.