AROUND TOWN

ORT Support

Hundreds flock to Farmington Hills for annual Rub-a-Dub fundraiser.

Jason Charnas with Carly and Mike Weinstock, all of
West Bloomfield

A

Patti and Steven Tapper of Orchard Lake

fter five years of coordinating the
annual Rub-a-Dub fundraiser for
ORT Michigan, Nicole Muchnick
of West Bloomfield got to experience the
energy and excite-
ment of this year's
event as director of
the local chapter.
It was hard to
catch the petite
blonde go-getter
standing still
among the crowd
of more than 400
people Aug. 26
at Franklin Hills
Country Club.
Muchnick was
busy greeting
and mingling with ORT supporters while
simultaneously making sure things were
running smoothly during the hip event

featuring cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, live
and silent auctions, a raffle and dinner.
"This was one of our biggest turnouts
ever:' Muchnick said with a smile. "We
lowered our ticket prices from $150 to $95
per person. If you're 35 or under, it was
`buy one, get one free, and we actually
made more money in ticket sales even by
lowering prices:' More than $200,000 was
raised from the raffle, the live auction, the
program and ticket sales.
Rub-a-Dub started back in 1983 as a
gathering of friends at the Bingham Farms
home of the late David Hermelin and his
wife, Doreen (ORT's national president).
Back then, participants rubbed off Instant
Lottery tickets and donated any winnings
to ORT. Today, the event is the premier
fundraiser for the 130-year-old organiza-
tion devoted to education.
"In the midst of this difficult economy,
ORT's initiatives are more critical than

Shaindle Braunstein and Nicole

Alison Oleshansky of Birmingham, Brooke Wolf of Franklin, Beth Lutz of

Muchnick, both of West Bloomfield

Birmingham and Stacey Raznick of Birmingham

24

September 2 • 2010

Ken Korotkin of Bloomfield Hills, Vera Gell of Franklin
and Janis Holcman of Farmington Hills

ever:' Muchnick said. "We're giving people
skills so they can go out and get jobs, they
can be productive and they can lead their
communities forward."
In West Bloomfield, the David B.
Hermelin ORT Resource Center has been
a busy place. There's a four- to six-month
waiting list to participate in the Better
Jobs Opportunities Program, a 12-week
course that provides computer training
free of charge. One-third of the evening's
proceeds goes directly to the Hermelin
Center; the rest of the money raised will
help support ORT programs around the
world.
"We're helping people who can not
afford to pay for classes:' Muchnick said.
"We're helping people who are unem-
ployed or underemployed. We're giving
them hope; we're giving them skills."
This year's Rub-a-Dub co-chairs were:
Randy Wertheimer of Franklin, Sandy

Shecter of Farmington Hills and Steven
Tapper of West Bloomfield. Spotted in
the crowd were: Doreen Hermelin of
Bingham Farms; Meredith and Robert
Colburn, Lynda and Conrad Giles,
Sharon Eisenshtadt, Sue Kaufman
and Alan Jay, all of Bloomfield Hills;
Dana and Scott Marcus of Birmingham;
Florine Mark of Farmington Hills; Lisa
and Hannan Lis of Franklin; and Patti
Aaron of Ann Arbor.

❑

For more information about ORT
Michigan's programs and services,
go to www.orgmichigan.org or call
(248) 723-8860. Save the date:
Camp Hermelin, a day of camp-style
activities for families is Oct. 3 at
the Bingham Farms home of Doreen
Hermelin.

Dr. George Blum of Bloomfield Hills and
Beverley Katz of Southfield

