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B'nai Israel Synagogue
JCC Cares
Jewish values, interactive experiences
helping others key to Maccabi & ArtsFest.
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
M
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For more information call our Executive Director
Linda Jacobson at 248-432-2729 or e-mail her at info@bnaiisraelwb.org
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All Israel is responsible for one another
16 July 24 • 2014
ove over, Wonder
Woman. Your work is
child's play compared to
what superheroes Karen Rubenfire
Sherbin and Miriam Bergman have
been up to this past year
Sherbin of Farmington Hills and
Bergman of West Bloomfield are
co-chairs of JCC Cares, a program of
the JCC Maccabi Games & ArtsFest
that engages participants in hands-on
projects that allow them to give back
to the host community.
JCC Maccabi is headed to Detroit
Aug. 17-22, and Sherbin and
Bergman (and many volunteers) have
planned an unforgettable JCC Cares
experience for more than 1,000 teens,
managing every aspect of transporta-
tion, security, supplies, coordinating
with other nonprofits and reinforcing
the Jewish connection to the impor-
tance of giving.
"Our goal; Sherbin said, "is to
empower the next generation of
young Jews"
"JCC Cares is important because
it partners our JCC Maccabi athletes
and artists with a number of differ-
ent community organizations and
affords them the opportunity to have
meaningful interactive experiences
with lasting benefit to our partner
organizations throughout the city:'
said co-chair Bergman.
A Day of Caring and Sharing was
introduced in 1997 as a one-day
program for JCC Maccabi partici-
pants. It has since been renamed JCC
Cares, and the Detroit program has
expanded to include opportunities on
different days (rather than just one),
making a donation (every delegation
is bringing toys, toiletries, books or
school supplies to give), one-on-one
experiences and connecting to Detroit
and the city's Jewish history.
Teens will participate in JCC
Cares in a variety of ways, including
wrapping gifts to be donated to the
Bottomless Toy Chest, playing board
games with residents of senior homes
and packing meals to be delivered to
Karen Rubenfire Sherbin with
daughters Emily, left, and Jessica
those in need.
Helping In Detroit
Sherbin, a social worker and proj-
ect coordinator for Detroit's Project
Healthy Community, a nonprofit that
promotes the well-being of persons of
all ages, is especially excited that JCC
Cares is partnering this year with the
Northwest Activities Center, because
the building was once home to the
JCC on Meyers and Curtis roads.
More than 150 Maccabi partici-
pants will be going to the activities
center to play sports with children in
Detroit and help establish a mobile
library, among other projects.
"This is a really great experience
for these kids:' Sherbin said, because
it means one-on-one engagement and
the chance to see the city of Detroit.
Sherbin and Bergman say it's
important that JCC Cares isn't just a
day when kids are lectured to about
doing something nice. In addition to
active participation, each JCC Cares
event includes a discussion about
what Judaism says about caring for
others, information about the specific
organization where the teens will be
volunteering and the impact of their
help.
"We are trying to make this very
interactive Sherbin said. JCC Cares
is not just "I had to make a blanket
for somebody:' but "I brought this toy
that will be donated to a child named
Mark who hasn't received something
new in years, who lives in a homeless
shelter in Detroit:'
It's a personal connection that
teaches that "hunger" isn't just an idea
but a painful truth for these six fami-
lies, for whom you've just prepared
six healthy dinners. And that feeling
of giving back:' Sherbin said, "is life-
changing:'
❑