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Cookies A 'GoGo'
Cookie decorating party a tribute to a beautiful soul.
E
very Chanukah, Golda Shapiro
would throw a cookie decorat-
ing bash for family and friends,
and they'd have a ball creating colorful
and yummy dreidels, Jewish stars and
menorot.
Although Golda, or "GoGo" as she was
affectionately known, passed away from
ovarian cancer in 2010, her husband, Ed
Shapiro of West Bloomfield, has seen to
it that her loving tradition lives on at the
Karmanos Cancer Institute's Weisberg
Treatment Center in Farmington Hills.
Along with Ed, Cheryl Gastwirth of
L -
West Bloomfield, a Karmanos volunteer
and a fellow member of a bereavement
support group at Weisberg, baked dozens
of holiday cookies for a cookie decorat-
ing party there on Dec. 6. Ed and Golds
granddaughter Rebecca Shapiro, 19, of
West Bloomfield lent a hand.
At the party, Karmanos social worker
Kathleen Hardy was presented with
a check for $50,000 to the Janet Lynn
Ripper Medical Oncology Fund from
Janet's surviving spouse, Jack, to help
fund support services at the cancer cen-
ter.
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The late Golda "GoGo" Shapiro
4111k
Laurence Jacobs of Farmington Hills,
who leads a caregivers support group
Charles Atlas Gorcyca of Farmington
Hills, a friend of Ed's family
Volunteer Cheryl Gastwirth shows
off her decorated dreidel cookie.
Ed Shapiro and granddaughter Rebecca at the
Karmanos Weisberg Treatment Center party
Mitzvah Day!
Jewish and Muslim volunteers help out
around Detroit on Christmas Day.
Sarah Crane
Special to the Jewish News
or nearly 20 years, members of Metro Detroit's Jewish commu-
nity have come together on Christmas to volunteer for Mitzvah
Day. This year's event, organized by the Jewish Community
Relations Council and co-chaired by Janet Berman, Micki Grossman
and Hy Safran, brought out 800 volunteers to 40 different sites around
Metro Detroit.
Volunteers helped out with Meals on Wheels, played bingo with
seniors, served lunch at homeless shelters and much more. While the
original purpose — replacing Christian staff and volunteers so they
can spend the day with their families — still rings true, the event has
become a tradition that families look forward to every year.
Many people have volunteered for Mitzvah Day for years, and they
feel a very close connection to sites they have gone to repeatedly.
"Volunteering on Mitzvah Day has very special meaning," said Nancy
Handelman, team captain for the Fleischman Residence site in West
Bloomfield. "My mother now lives at Fleischman Residence. It gives me
great comfort knowing that I can spend the afternoon at Fleischman
playing bingo with the residents. They feel like my extended family"
For the past four years, Muslim volunteers have worked alongside
Jewish volunteers at several Mitzvah Day sites.
"I think it sends an important message to everybody out there that
we can all work together well to make Metro Detroit a better place for
all people," said Sumayyah Ahmed, a volunteer who delivered gifts to
children with Jimmy's Kids in Clawson.
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January 17 • 2013
Volunteers at Jimmy's Kids preparing to deliver gifts to children: Stephanie Gooel, Michelle
Gooel, Matthew Kash, Lauren Gooel, Jenna Gooel, Lisa Gooel, Jim Tuman, Brendan Bradley,
Diana Bradley, Scott Bradley, Dylan Bradley and Bruce Gooel.
Barb Rosenthal, Dick Rosenthal and Harry
Gruenberg at Gleaners in Pontiac
Interfaith group members at Beth Shalom
make a meal for the South Oakland Shelter.