the cover
The Detroit Jewish
ews Foundation
The Detroit Jewish News Foundation is
a Michigan 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that
supports the educational mission of the
Jewish News. Its goal is is to digitize
every issue of the Jewish News, dating to
March 27, 1942, and make them available
and searchable to the public. The Foundation will also
support and sponsor forums, town hall meetings and
other educational events to best utilize and share this
historical community resource.
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ROOTS
The Foundation's activities are designed to provide
an ongoing historical resource and venue as well
as to train and educate students, interns and others
to continue researching, writing and otherwise
understanding and telling the story and history of
the Jewish Community of Southeastern Michigan.
Historical Archiving
Founded in 1942, the Detroit Jewish News writes,
publishes and distributes a weekly newspaper.
Information contained in the Detroit Jewish News
is loosely catalogued, poorly indexed and largely
unavailable for educational, cultural and scholarly
purposes.
The Foundation will organize this archive by
computerization and otherwise for the purpose of
scholarly research and education on topics that
would include, but not be limited to:
The history of Jews in Detroit and Southeastern
Michigan
Demographic, geographic and religious trends
among Jews in Detroit and Southeastern
Michigan
The impact of Jews in Detroit and Southeastern
Michigan on the general community
The welcoming, education and absorption
of immigrant communities from Central and
Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and
their impact on the larger Jewish and secular
communities of Detroit and Southeastern
Michigan
The history of anti-Semitism, quotas and others
acts of intolerance as a framework for teaching
tolerance among persons from different racial,
ethnic and faith communities
Education and Training
The Foundation will fund and facilitate the training
and education of interns for the Detroit Jewish News
. It will fund curricula and train educators to use
the Detroit Jewish News archives in their classroom
and teaching environments. It will fund educational
forums and similar assemblages to review, discuss
and better understand the scholarly content of the
archives. The Foundation will also fund initiatives
to make the educational and scholarly content of
the archives available and accessible to those with
physical disabilities, including but not limited to
impaired vision.
Donations
The Foundation may make contributions, grants
and/or other donations to qualifying organizations,
the purposes of which are consistent with the
educational and other purposes of the Foundation.
Eric Ersher
Steve Goldberg
Pam Turkin
Mickey Bakst
Cooking Up Kindness
Jewish chefs among nearly 100
restaurants helping 'Feed the Need.'
Robin Schwartz I Contributing Writer
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
"There are a lot of great people and
great agencies doing a lot more than we
are," Ersher added. "We're just proud to
be able to participate in our small way"
South Carolina Roots
The "Feed the Need" program has its
roots in Charleston, S.C., with Mickey
Bakst, a Detroit native and former
maitre d' at Tribute restaurant in
Farmington Hills. Bakst was also a
partner in the now-closed fine dining
establishment Tapawingo in Ellsworth,
Mich. He's currently general manager of
the Charleston Grill.
"I read one morning in the local
newspaper that the main shelter in
town was going to have to close its meal
service one day a week for financial
reasons:' Bakst recalled. "I just thought
to myself, This is insanity, and this idea
popped into my head."
Bakst quickly lined up 52 restaurants
— one for each week of the year — to
provide the missing meals. His program
has been in full swing since 2009. NBC's
Today Show did a feature on it, and
the National Restaurant Association
presented Bakst with its 2011 Neighbor
Award for his efforts.
"Why wouldn't I do it?" Bakst said. "I
had the ability. To think of these people
going without food one day a week was
just appalling to me. This happens to be
one thing I could do something about."
Now, Bakst wants to take the program
to cities across the country. Detroit is
the first to sign on. Jane and John Carlin,
Kate Lawson, Mindy Van Hellemont and
Judi Shefman are the local organizers.
They say it only took a few weeks and
a few dozen phone calls to get people
involved.
"I read an article about what Mickey
had done and it went right to my heart,"
Shefiiian said. She'd never met Bakst,
but she called him to say she wanted to
help.
"With the economy the way it is today,
every time I turn on the TV or read
the paper it's talking about how many
Feed the Need volunteer Michelle
Todd of Tallulah restaurant in
Birmingham serves Mark Robinson
of Pontiac his lunch.
people are going hungry and so many
people are out of work," she continued.
"I've been very lucky; I've always had a
good life and plenty to eat, and I just felt
I could do something."
Shefman of Orchard Lake owns
the gift basket business, A Gift for All
Seasons. Bakst helped connect her with
committee members in the restaurant
industry to get the program under way.
Participating restaurants range from
high-end establishments like Jeremy
Restaurant and Bar in Keego Harbor,
Tallulah Wine Bar and the Townsend
Hotel, both in Birmingham, to hospi-
tals, casinos and local burger joints. If
enough restaurants sign up, they plan to
provide meals twice a week.
"The restaurants have been so gener-
ous:' Shefman said. "I'm so appreciative
of the support."
Lunch Is Served
The first Detroit Area Chefs Feed the
Need lunch took place Oct. 19 at Cass
Community Center in Detroit. Buffalo
Wild Wings provided the meals.
Shefman was there helping to serve.
"It breaks my heart, it absolutely
Feed The Need on page 12
10 December 1 • 2011