Metro New Home Art For Stoves Teen's jewelry project helps families in Darfur. Hillel dedicates its new Early Childhood Center. Julia Fertel, 13, of Commerce Township with some of the clay pendants she Hard at work are Julia Feber, 4, of West Bloomfield, Joely Gottlieb, 4, of makes and sells to raise money for the Darfur Stoves Project Keri Guten Cohen Story Development Editor W hat began as a bat mitzvah project has continued as a fundraising project with the sale of handmade ceramic pendants in several galleries and in the annual fall boutique sale to be held Oct. 20 at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Julia Fertel, 13, of Commerce Township is an eighth-grader at Walled Lake Walnut Creek Middle School. After hearing a speaker several years ago compare the genocide in Darfur to the slaughter of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, Julia was moved to action. "Since 2003, millions of men, women and children have been dis- placed in the Darfur region of Sudan due to an on-going conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands:' she said. "Now more than 2.5 million peo- ple are living in crowded camps, where resources are scarce. Women and children spend up to seven hours a day gathering wood in remote areas. This imposes great risk of bodily harm. "The Darfur Stoves Project helps provide fuel-efficient stoves to women and families in Darfur. The stoves are $30 a piece. All the money I collect will go to help this project." So far, she has made at least 500 22 October 14 • 2010 Huntington Woods and Nicolette Handler, 4 of Birmingham. clay pendants and donated $2,700 to the project — almost doubling her original goal of $1,500 for her bat mitzvah. She will continue collecting money from her jewelry sales. "Just thinking about how this is going to help someone makes me feel good:' Julia said. "The stoves not are not only helping the women, they ALSO are helping the environment" She credits her parents, Natalie Cohen and Howard Fertel, with instill- ing in her this attitude to help others. Julia creates her pendants in a two- week process that includes imprinting round discs of clay with designs, then firing them in a kiln in the family garage. Her mother is a fabric and jewelry artist who teaches young chil- dren at Temple Israel. The colorful pendants with their bold designs come with black cord necklaces. Her jewelry will be available at a special price at Temple Israel Sisterhood's boutique sale and fundraising luncheon/fashion show. The boutique sale runs from 10 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. at the synagogue. ❑ Julia's pendants also can be purchased at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, 1516 S. Cranbrook, Birmingham, and the Hanni Gallery, 140 S. Spring St., Harbor Springs. For more information on the stove project, go to www.darfurstoves.org. H "We have more than 70 happy illel Day School held a children enrolled',' Papps said."Thes Chanukkat Ha-bayit (new home dedication) and hung 2-, 3- and 4-year-old children are our sweet reminders that the early child- a mezuzah to celebrat the official hood experience is the foundation of opening of the Hillel Day School our social, emotional, Early Childhood intellectual and moral Center (ECC) at development. the Farmington "Our students are Hills school on learning together, Sept. 7. exploring their world Approximately through play, words, 75 children, their music, art and move- parents and corn- ment, all within the munity leaders context of Hillel Day gathered with School's core Jewish Steve Freedman, values." head of school, Hillel's ECC has Rabbi Steven five full-time teach- Rubenstein of ers and seven teacher Congregation assistants as well as Beth Ahm in Gabrielle Kam, 3, of West resource teachers West Bloomfield Bloomfield with her finished from the Hillel music, and Rabbi artwork physical education and Joseph Krakoff Hebrew departments of Congregation — and use of the Hillel facility. Shaarey Zedek of Oakland County Hillel has grown from two rented as Rabbi Jonathan Berger, Hillel classrooms more than 50 years ago rabbi-in-residence, performed the to its current facility, expanding five Hannukat Ha-Bayit and hung the times throughout the years. The new . mezuzah. ECC joins a state-of-the-art technol- From there, everyone entered the ogy center, three science labs, an art ECC to be greeted by Robin Pappas, center and another recent addition — ECC director, and the staff and a new theater arts/athletic facility. ❑ teachers.