Molly's Muffins

Angels and Dreamers fulfills young girl's wish to feed the hungry.

Jackie Headapohl

I Managing Editor

M

olly Warshawsky, age 11, is
a very animated person. Her
expressive hands are in con-
stant motion when she talks. Her voice is
filled with enthusiasm. It's hard to not be
excited about whatever she is excited about.
On Sept 30, at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township, she was excited about the fulfill-
ment of a dream.
It all started with a letter:

Dear Angels and Dreamers,
My name is Molly. I am 11 years old. I
want to be a baker and dream of feeding the
hungry. Can you help me? I am a dreamer
and love angels. Thank you very much.
Shalom.
Angels and Dreamers, a new foundation
launched by Rabbi Daniel Syme of Temple
Beth El, with help from 8-year-old Noah
Ostheimer of White Lake, helps Jewish chil-
dren ages 7-11 do the mitzvahs they wish
they could do if only they had the resources.
Rabbi Syme finds the angels to make the
children's dreams come true. And he was
able to help Molly achieve both of her goals:
being a baker and feeding the hungry.
On Sunday, Sept. 28, Molly went to the
kitchen at Temple Shir Shalom in West
Bloomfield to team up with Chef Justin Kurtz
from Cutting Edge Cuisine to bake muffins
— lots of muffins, about eight dozen, in fact.
Molly, who went to baking camp at Oakland
Yard two years ago, said, "It was a lot of
work, but it was a lot of fun combining the
ingredients:'
Two days later, the muffins arrived at
Temple Beth El in time to be distributed to
the families helped through Temple Beth
El's Mitzvah Meals programs — and to the
hungry volunteers.
"I'm happy to help the hungry people
who can't afford food:' said the sixth grader
at Pierce Middle School in Waterford. "If
people don't have food, they're sad. And I
like to make people happy. I really should
be thanking my mama, who helped make
this happen:'
Mama is Stacey Keywell of Waterford.
She and her daughters, Molly and 8-year-
old Cameron, attend Temple Israel, but
Keywell read about Angels and Dreamers
in the Jewish News. "I immediately thought
of Molly," she said. "Then she sat down and
wrote her own letter. It touched me and
made me want to cry. Molly is such a good
little person:'
Molly said she was inspired by the book
her mother wrote, Escape Dead Sky, about
a young girl who's a champion for those in
need.

Feeding The Hungry

Molly set her muffins up at the end of the
food packaging assembly line at Temple
Beth El.
Mitzvah Meals was started in 2009
by Rabbi Syme and Jim Hiller of Hiller's
Market during the height of the economic
downturn. Since its inception, the program
has provided more than 105,000 meals.
Each month, Mitzvah Meals provides 90
families with enough food for five dinners.
The cost per family is $55. Of that amount,
$30 is paid by Temple Beth El congregants
and $25 by Hiller's.
"Even as the economy has improved, the
need for Mitzvah Meals has gone up:' Rabbi
Syme said.
Temple Beth El member Deloris
Weinstein is the "powerhouse" that has
organized the program since it started. "I
wanted to help people in the community
who were hurting," Weinstein said. "As
Jews, we are supposed to help one another."
Weinstein added that she wishes the need
wasn't so great. "We want people to be able
to afford food, yet we have more people
applying each month:'
The families who receive the food go
through an application process and are
allowed to remain anonymous. Weinstein
has it arranged that people who are too
embarrassed to come pick up the food don't
have to. She plans the menu each month as
she would for her own family.
On the day of Molly's mitzvah, each fam-
ily was getting a whole chicken, chicken
breasts, hamburger, pasta, sauce, peanut
butter, oatmeal, potatoes, onions, lettuce,
broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, apples, eggs,
bread — and a muffin from Molly. ❑

If you are a Jewish child between
the ages of 7-11 who has a dream
to perform a mitzvah but you don't
know how to do it, or if you are
a member of the community or
a business owner who would like
to be on call as an angel to make
those dreams come true, send an
email to jheadapohl@renmedia.us
with "Angels and Dreamers" in the
subject line, or mail a letter to:

Angels and Dreamers
c/o the Jewish News
29200 Northwestern Highway
Suite 110
Southfield, MI 48034

1

TI

Molly prepares to load the muffins into the oven.

.1■ 4;

./

I

Molly watches as volunteer Deloris
Weinstein of West Bloomfield, who leads
the Mitzvah Meals program, grabs some
muffins.

Molly tries a sampling of the crumble
topping that goes on the muffins as Chef
Justin Kurtz of Birmingham watches.

Molly gives volunteer Estelle Kleiman of
West Bloomfield some lettuce to put in
her wagon.

Molly's muffins

JN

October 9 • 2014

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