Pennies From Heave

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Elizabeth Applebaum

Special to the Jewish News

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Ian and Yael Elrom were eager to raise
money for Israel, and they knew that
toothbrushes were the answer.
Twins Ilan and Yael, 10,1ive in West
Bloomfield and are students at Hillel Day
School in Farmington Hills. When they
heard about a penny drive to help Israel in
the aftermath of terrible Carmel forest fires,
they immediately set to work.
"Me and my sister sold toothbrush
bracelets and lanyards around the neigh-
borhood," Ilan said. The bracelet is "a tooth-
brush that's curved with heat and then you
add a string on the outside,' Ilan explained.
"It's an old camp thing."
Yael and Ilan's work was part of a drive
that culminated with a penny count
and community-wide celebration Sunday
at the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield .
The penny drive was supported
locally by the JCC's Center Day Camps,
Shalom Street, the Jewish Federation's
Alliance for Jewish Education, the Jewish
National Fund, Frankel Jewish Academy,
Congregation Beth Ahm, the JCC of Ann
Arbor, Temple Beth El, the JCC's Sarah &
Irving Pitt Child Development Center, The
Shul, Coby's Judaica, Hillel Day School, the
B'nai B'rith Youth Organization-Michigan
Region, Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
Jewish Experiences For Families, Temple
Israel, Temple Emanu-El, Akiva Hebrew
Day School, Congregation B'nai Israel,
the Jewish Parents Institute, Temple Kol
Ami, Adat Shalom Synagogue, Tamarack
Camps and Congregations Beth Shalom,
Congregation B'nai Moshe, Ganeinu, Aish
HaTorah, Jerusalem Pizza and Congregation
Shir Tikvah.
Although the drive didn't reach its goal of
1 million pennies, more than half that total
was collected, according to Shalom Street's
Jewish Family Educator Tina Abohasira.
And without a doubt, children and families
had a lot of fun during the weeks of penny
gathering and at the big countdown.
"Tina and I decided to try and go big
by combining a Tu b'Shevat program with
ways to help after the horrible fire in Israel;'
Center Day Camps Director Tal Siegmann
said."I spoke to Mark [Lit, JCC executive
director], who came up with the idea of the
penny drive."
"This has been an amazing experience,'

lected pennies from around the house. Her
favorite part of the afternoon was hearing
Rabbi Avishur's story.
Lindsay Randel, 61/2, of Walled Lake,
heard about the penny drive from her
teacher at Adat Shalom Sunday School. She
filled up a tzedakah box with her own pen-
nies, plus "pennies from my Dad, who had a
big bag of cents:'
Lindsay's sister Ali, 9, an aspiring author
who loves poetry, appealed to her grand-
mother over a lunch date.
The top collector of the day was Jacob
Wilson from the Jewish Parents Institute,
who managed to gather 5,000 pennies. El

Shalom Street
Affiliates With JCC

Elianna Orel, 9, of West Bloomfield looks through all the empty tzedakah boxes.

Siegmann added. "I can't wait to see how
the community will continue and follow
this momentum."
On Sunday, the JCC lobby was home to
tables laden with baskets, the famous blue-
and-white JNF boxes and plastic animal
cracker containers, all filled to the top with
coins. There were simple little piles of pen-
nies, as well, where children and passersby
were still dropping coins right up to the last
minute.
As the program began, JEFF Executive
Director Lisa Soble-Siegmann led a song
session, followed by a Tu b'Shevat story
from the Jewish Academy's dean of Judaic
studies, Rabbi Maccabee Avishur. There
were also projects, including planting
parsley and making a book cover and a
recycling box, which children covered with
drawings and stickers.

Adi Siegmann, 10, of Oak Park, explained
the process: "You cover a normal box with
paper and you decorate it." Adi planned to
use his box "pretty much for [recycling]
paper."
The big moment came when Abohasira
invited all the children to take a cup to
fill with pennies, which were poured into
huge containers for a semi-official count-
ing. (While the coins didn't reach the top,
guaranteeing 1 million, they certainly filled
more than half.)
Among those who collected pennies was
Ryan Schmeltz, 41/2, of West Bloomfield.
Ryan learned about the penny drive from
"Miss Mae',' his teacher at the at JCC's Child
Development Center. And how did he collect
pennies? "I put them in my hand': he said.
Tali Rubenstein, 6, of West Bloomfield, a
first-grade student at Hillel Day School, col-

he directions to Shalom
Street have always been the
same: step inside the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan
Detroit in West Bloomfield and make
a right.
Now, Shalom Street, the interactive
children's museum, is actually affiliated
with the JCC.
This past fall, the JCC took the helm
of Shalom Street, formerly a project of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit. The JCC will now supervise all
programming at the 4,500-square-foot
facility, which is undergoing renova-
tions and will reopen in February.
"The JCC is thrilled to be providing
the programming for Shalom Street,
one of the finest Jewish children's
museums in the world:' JCC Executive
Director Mark Lit said. "By incorporat-
ing our Youth Services Department
and our Arts, Culture And Education
Department, along with the education-
al assistance of the Alliance for Jewish
Education, we have created a team to
provide exciting, entertaining and edu-
cational hands-on exhibitions, which
we will bring from all over the world, as
well as some we will develop and create
ourselves."
Tal Siegmann, director of the JCC's
Center Day Camps and Youth Services
Department, will supervise Shalom
Street, with Tina Abohasira serving
as the new Jewish family educator for
both Shalom Street and the JCC. [1

January 27 . X011

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