frontlines >> mitzvah of the month

Valuable
Volunteering

Marielle Temkin
Special to the Jewish News

Z

ach Worthing of Farmington Hills is quite a selfless
13-year-old. The eighth-grader at Dunckel Middle
School in Farmington Hills will celebrate his bar
mitzvah on Nov. 23 at Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield,
but he thinks he may continue his mitzvah project even after
his special day.
Zach is working with Detroit PAL, a nonprofit organization
that positively impacts the lives of almost 10,000 kids each year
through athletic and leadership development programs. As
Zach explains, "They help kids get involved with after-school
activities so they know the streets aren't the only option for
them.
"I'm trying to get people to be aware of [the organization]
and help out the kids in the community by letting people know
about what Detroit PAL does:'
Zach goes to sports games and helps pass out flyers with
information about the nonprofit. When asked why he feels this
is a worthy mitzvah project, he said, "Detroit PAL is trying to
protect the future, and I think it's a good idea to try to keep
kids from going in the direction of gangs and drugs and think-
ing sports wouldn't help them at all because, in reality, sports
could change them to be happier:'
Zach, the son of Marla Cooper Worthing and Steve
Worthing and brother of Halley and Eli, is a sports fan who
plays goalie on his soccer team and also runs cross-country.
"I like sports because they're just fun:' he said. "If you're mad
about something and you're playing a sport, you can forget
about it and just love what you're doing:'
That mentality is one that Detroit PAL works to promote,
making the connection between Zach and the organization
even stronger.

JN CONTENTS

Zach Worthing with Dewayne Jones, Detroit PAL's
director of athletics

There are more than 160,000 children ages 5-18 living in
Detroit who aren't involved with an after-school program of
any sort; Detroit PAIs goal is to work with one out of every 10
Detroit children.
Zach's work with Detroit PAL has him thinking about the
kids who don't like sports. He thinks they should still have
something to do after school.
"They should try the sport anyway and just see. If they don't
like what they're doing, they don't have to do it. But for kids
who don't like sports, maybe they could join junior honor
societies or start clubs, like a chess club. It doesn't have to be
sports. It just needs to be something kids can enjoy and stay
off the streets:'
In addition to the time Zach spends volunteering at Detroit
PAL, he is also requesting that sports equipment and funds are
donated to Detroit PAL in lieu of gifts to him. He has set a fund-
raising goal of $500 to go to the nonprofit.
Renee Peck, chief advancement officer at Detroit Pal, said, "By
asking his friends and family to support the kids in Detroit PAL,
Zach is not only collecting sports equipment and donations, but
he is also helping to spread the word about Detroit PAL. I am
sure his story will inspire other young people to become more
involved in their community and projects they believe in."
Go to www.facebook.com/barmitzvahzach for more informa-
tion on Zach's mitzvah project and to learn how to donate to
Detroit PAL.

❑

JEWISHNEWS

Oct. 24-30, 2013 20 - 26 Cheshvan 5774 Vol. CXLIV, No. 12

Arts/Entertainment ...39
Calendar
28
Food
44
Health & Wellness ... 38
Israel ... 5, 8, 27, 30, 31, 32
Letters
5
Life Cycles
48
Marketplace
52
Metro
8
Next Generation
35
Obituaries
60

41
Out & About
Points Of View
30
Sports
47
Spotlight
32
Staff Box/Phone List ...6
Synagogue List
34
Torah Portion
33

Columnist

Danny Raskin

46

Shabbat Lights

Shabbat: Friday, Oct. 25, 6:17 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Oct. 26, 7:17 p.m.

Shabbat: Friday, Nov.1, 6:07 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Nov. 2, 7:08 p.m.

Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

Semonna Matz is a nursing
student who had a dilemma: in
her clinical work, whenever she
would put on scrubs and a surgical
mask to work in the operating
room, the mask would cause her
glasses to fog up. "It's not exactly
conducive to good patient care
when you can't see what you're
doing," Semonna said.
Semonna looked into LASIK
surgery so she could get rid of her
glasses entirely. However, the
cost of her education and living
expenses put the surgery slightly
out of her reach, so Hebrew Free
Loan helped with some of the cost
through its Project HEAL program.
"My parents suggested it," she
said. "They came here from
Russia in the 1980s, and they knew
about HFL. I'd heard of it, but I
always assumed it was about
helping immigrants with housing,
or low-income people, and it
never occurred to me HFL would
help someone like me with the
cost of eye surgery. From the
moment I called, it was easy,
completely hassle-free, and the
people at HFL genuinely cared.
"This is a big deal to me. They
gave me the ability to see, to
work with my patients, and be
effective. It's the best."

Click. Call. Give Now
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

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October 24 • 2013

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