metro >> up front

The Hunger Tax

Alan Hitsky
Interim Editor

T

he state legislature didn't
hit you with a new tax last
month. They just did away
with an old tax break, which could
affect the poor and hungry.
Among the budget proposals
passed by the Michigan Legislature
and signed by the governor in May
was elimination of the 50-percent
tax credit individuals (up to $200)
and married couples (up to $400)
received for donating money to food
banks, homeless shelters and public
universities.
While, in theory, it sounds like
a devastating blow to those public
institutions, in practice it may not be
as bad a it looks — at least not for
Yad Ezra, the kosher food pantry in
Berkley.
,
Lea Luger is
Yad Ezra's devel-
opment director,
and co-executive
director with
Elaine Ryke.
Looking at the
agency's 2010
contributions
Lea Luger
last week, Luger
believes Yad Ezra may be spared any
donation backlash.
Yad Ezra received a total of $1.4
million from 4,000 donors last year.
Fifty-eight of those donations were
exactly $400, and 47 of the 58 came

in the last quarter of the year. That
suggests that 47 couples were specifi-
cally trying to meet the tax-break cri-
teria before the end of the year while
helping Yad Ezra.
"The short answer:' says Luger, "is
that the tax break was an incentive,
but for Yad Ezra it doesn't seem to be
the key. People are giving to us to help
other people who don't have food."
The agency's client base has stabi-
lized after growing consistently dur-
ing the economic downturn. "We're
hovering at between 1,500 and 1,600
families per month (3,700 individu-
als), or roughly 6 percent of the local
Jewish community,' Luger says.
She comments that "food prices
are up 10 percent. Gasoline prices are
up. Our money is buying less, so what
happens to those who have even less
money?"
In addition to the monetary dona-
tions, Yad Ezra received food dona-
tions valued at $580,000 in 2010. The
main sources are the agency's Yom
Kippur food drive at area congrega-
tions, the annual food drive in May
by U.S. Postal Service letter carriers
and a Boy Scout food collection.
In addition, Yad Ezra works with
Gleaners Community Food Bank in
Detroit. In exchange for sorting pal-
lets of donated food products, Yad
Ezra gets to keep kosher items for its
clients.

To donate money, time or food to Yad

Chickpea Pick:
DePaul Backs Sabra
CHICAGO (JTA) — The Sabra brand of hum-
mus will continue to be served in cafeterias on
the campus of DePaul University in Chicago.
The university administration made the deci-
sion last week following a recommendation of the
university's Fair Business Practices Committee
and a nonbinding student referendum.
The Sabra brand had
been served until last
November, when the
pro-Palestinian student
group Students for Justice
in Palestine objected
because Sabra is half-
owned by the Strauss Group. Strauss has pub-
licly supported the Israel Defense Forces, and
provides care packages and sports equipment
to Israel's Golani and Givati brigades.
The DePaul food service had suspended sell-
ing Sabra hummus, even though the request
did not go through the Fair Business Practices
Committee, as is customary. The brand was
reinstated pending the committee's decision.
"While we recognize the original complaint
made by DePaul students arose from genuine
concerns surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict ... the committee did not find evidence
that the Strauss Group provides direct military
support for units within the Israeli Defense
Forces," the committee concluded.
The student referendum on banning Sabra
hummus ran 1,127 in favor and 332 against,
but was deemed invalid since fewer than 1,500
students on a campus of more than 20,000
voted on the issue.
Students for Justice in Palestine said they will
continue the fight against Sabra hummus. II

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Ezra, go to www.yadezra.org.

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June 2 -June 8, 2011 I 29 Iyar- 6 Sivan 5771 I Vol. CXXXIX, No. 16

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