metro

Melissa Spickler and Perry Ohren, CEO
of JFS

Back Pack Donations
In Time For School
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Michigan Women's Exchange donated 50
backpacks crammed full of school sup-
plies to Jewish Family Service this week.
The packs will go directly to families with
children that receive support and services
from JFS. It's a valuable gift to families in
our community facing crises and signifi-
cant financial pressures.
Melissa Spickler is managing direc-
tor and founding partner of the Spickler
Wealth Management Group in Bloomfield
Hills and the head of the Women's
Exchange. She said the group brings
together women from across the corpora-
tion's Michigan-based work force for sup-
port and professional development four to
five times a year.
Each meeting includes a charitable or
philanthropic component, and the most
recent gathering in July focused on school

supplies for low-income families.
"We support a lot of charities through
the group, and I'm really proud that we're
able to support so many important causes,"
Spickler said. "It's great to have this career,
but it's really important that we do more
for our community as well. The women in
our group are the kind of people who just
want to help:'

Sylvan Lake Woman
Named 'Everyday Hero'
Sylvan Lake resident
Elanah Hunger, chief
operating officer of
Willowgreen Properties,
was honored with the
Everyday Hero Award at
the annual "Night of
Heroes" event. The
Elanah Hunger RARE Everyday Hero
Program, an effort of
Warren-based Winning Futures, is dedi-
cated to inspiring Michigan's youth
through everyday heroes.
The award celebrates the lives of every-
day people in the workplace who through
extraordinary commitment, courage,
compassion and integrity are changing
lives and inspiring others. Hunger was
nominated by Tri-County area business
members.
Hunger is passionate about building
the capacity of nonprofits. She is on many

boards, including the Young Friends of
the Taubman Medical Research Institute
at the University of Michigan, which she
co-chairs, the Founders Junior Council
of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the
Women's Philanthropy Board of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. She
also chairs fundraisers for the Michigan
Opera Theatre and works with the
Coalition on Temporary Shelter to solicit
donations for at-risk children.
Her biggest passion is the JOY Project,
which she founded at Jewish Family
Service in honor of her mother, Joy.
She launched the program that solicits
Mother's Day tribute donations to pro-
vide crisis support, emergency assistance,
counseling and domestic violence inter-
vention for more than 1,300 women and
children a year.

Friends Of IDF Launches
'Day After' To Aid Soldiers
In the wake of Operation Protective Edge,
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces
(FIDF) is shifting its emergency Frontline
Campaign for the immediate wellbeing
needs of Israeli troops during the conflict
into a multi-pronged initiative to support
comprehensive annual programming for
IDF soldiers and their families.
The FIDF "Day After" campaign will
begin immediately, with FIDF directing its
infrastructure of wellbeing activities and

programs toward all the IDF soldiers who
took part in this operation and are return-
ing to their units. Israel's soldiers must
now deal with personal losses and the
physical and emotional challenges of bat-
tle. Many soldiers have been injured dur-
ing the operation and are still hospitalized
or beginning rehabilitation. Furthermore,
64 families of fallen IDF soldiers have paid
the ultimate sacrifice and are grieving
their losses.
The campaign, which will include fund-
raising, has been in the planning stages
since the needs of Israeli soldiers and their
families began emerging during Operation
Protective Edge.
FIDF will work through its 15 chapters in
the United States and Panama to continue
tending to the specific needs of combat
brigades through the Adopt a Brigade pro-
gram, particularly focusing on those that
participated in Operation Protective Edge.
FIDF will attend to the wellbeing of sol-
diers in these units, with activities such as
Spirit weeks, providing soldiers with well-
deserved rest and relaxation, and dignity
aid, which offers monetary assistance to
soldiers with financial challenges. FIDF will
also sponsor flights all over the world for
Lone Soldiers who took part in the opera-
tion in Gaza, so that they can reconnect
with their families and friends abroad.
For more details, visit www.fidf.org, or
contact kristen@puderpr.com .

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44 September 4 • 2014