>> ... Next Generation ...
Fighting
Hunger
Transplanted Detroiter is passionate about
getting people food.
BY MARIELLE TEMKIN I IN INTERN
I
t's rare for someone from out-
of-state to come to Detroit and
be imbued with the pride native
Detroiters seem to be born with,
but Minnesota-born Ian Sherman, 23,
has that attitude and drive. He initially
came to Michigan for college, but he
chose to move here permanently after
graduating and now works at Yad Ezra,
the Berkley-based kosher food pantry, as
its marketing coordinator.
After graduating in May 2011 with
a degree in media arts and technology
from Michigan State University, where
he was involved with Hillel, he moved
back home for a production assistant
job.
"It was nice to be home, but I missed
being in Michigan," said Sherman, "and
I didn't want to spend my life getting
coffee for people."
Through a connection with a friend,
he heard that Yad Ezra was looking for
someone to do marketing for them.
Now living in Royal Oak with close
friends from school, Sherman is in
charge of Yad Ezra's promotional deals
and social media, and one of his main
goals is to bring younger volunteers to
the food pantry.
"A lot of people come in for their bar
mitzvah projects," he said, "but then
they don't come back until their kids do
their bar mitzvah projects."
Sherman wants to partner with
CommunityNEXT, a division of the Jewish
Federation that focuses on young people
in Metro Detroit, to find ways to bring
people to Yad Ezra or get them involved
in any aspect of hunger. He would also
like to partner with Moishe House in
Midtown Detroit to do a food stamp
challenge or something similar.
"I want to do anything I can to
help people get food," said Sherman,
"and I think tapping into the younger
demographic is a good way to do that."
He goes to CommunityNEXT events
and plays intramural sports with
ComePlayDetroit, which he says is how
he met nearly everyone he knows in
the area, but they are also venues for
meeting people to bring to Yad Ezra.
"Those groups are not like anything
I've seen in any other city," Sherman
said. "The people in charge of them
have a ton of big ideas, which is
what Detroit needs. They're building a
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community here."
Coming from a suburb of Minneapolis,
Sherman was surprised by Michigan
residents' attitudes concerning Detroit.
"One of the coolest things about the
city is how many people are working to
make it better," he said. "In Minneapolis,
people just avoid the bad areas of the
city, but the community here wants to
make Detroit better. I think that's a rare
thing.
"Also, to really understand Detroit,
you have to go there and experience
it," he said. "When you see it and
experience it, you realize there's a lot of
good stuff here. A lot."
Doing his part to better the
community, Sherman works to educate
the public and improve awareness of the
2012 Farm Bill via social media and Yad
Ezra's newsletter and website.
The Senate passed the bill, which is
revised every five years, on June 21, and
the House will vote on it in mid-July. It
is one of the largest government-funded
bills;.the federal Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly
known as food stamps, holds the bulk of
the bill's spending. "Because of that, the
government sees it as an easy target to
cut," said Sherman.
"Food stamps keep people from living
in poverty. Most people on food stamps
do have jobs," he explained, "but they
have to support their families and
whomever they're responsible for, and
sometimes their job just doesn't cut it."
There are a fair number of Metro
Detroiters relying on food stamps, and
Sherman sees how food stamps and Yad
Ezra's work benefit them.
The Senate-passed bill includes a $4.5
billion reduction in SNAP spending over
10 years, primarily by making changes to
eligibility that would decrease benefits
for some program recipients.
"To cut SNAP by even a dollar would
be a shame," Sherman said.
Though a lot of the work Sherman
does at Yad Ezra with advocacy
and fighting hunger is new to him,
he is having "a lot of fun learning
everything." He said, "Everybody's been
so nice to me, and I'm enjoying myself.
To be happy with where you're at is any
20-something's goal, I think, and I'm
lucky enough to have that and be in a
city I love." ❑
Ian Sherman in Yad Ezra's warehouse.
Ian checks on the tomato plants in Yad Ezra's garden.