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Child life specialist Amanda Lefkov holds the microphone while Miranda
Freedman reads Rumble in the Jungle.

Stories For The Sick

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Jackie Headapohl
I Managing Editor

iranda Freedman was in her
element as she read books
to sick children at Royal
Oak's Beaumont Hospital on Dec. 17,
the culmination of a dream she shared
with Rabbi Daniel Syme of Temple Beth
El, who leads the Angels and Dreamers
Foundation.
The Angels and Dreamers
Foundation helps young Jewish children
in Metro Detroit perform the mitzvahs
they wish they could do if only they had
the means and the resources to accom-
plish them.
In Miranda's case, the dream seemed
simple enough. She had the means —
the books, the skill — but she didn't
have the opportunity. Because of visi-
tors' age restrictions at local hospitals,
she was too young to go into patients'
rooms.
Syme reached out to Dr. Brian
Berman, chief of pediatrics at
Beaumont Hospital, who came up with
an ingenious solution. "We'll have her
read on closed-circuit TV and broadcast
it into the children's rooms" he said.
And that's what Miranda, 11, from
Grosse Pointe Park did. She read the
children's classic Madeline by Ludwig
Bemelmans and Rumble in the Jungle by
Giles Andreae, while child life specialist
Amanda Lefkov held the microphone.
Dr. Berman, in the midst of dealing
with an influx of flu patients that day,
stopped by the Child Life Center after
Miranda's taping for a moment to chat
and thank her for her efforts.
Miranda, who's a sixth-grader at

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University Liggett School in Grosse
Pointe Woods, first came up with the
idea of reading to sick children after
she saw a TV fundraising special about
Shriners Hospital and all it does to
make the lives of sick children happier.
"I didn't have any money to give," she
said. "But I thought to myself, 'Why not
read to children?' That always makes
me feel better when I'm sick"
Miranda had learned about Angels
and Dreamers at Temple Beth El, where
she and parents Alan and Beth and
brother Sammy attend services. Once
Syme made the arrangements to tape
Miranda reading books at Beaumont,
she began to practice her delivery. Not
surprisingly, Miranda is an avid reader.
She's currently reading The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak.
Miranda read the books at the Child
Life Center at Beaumont, an expansive
and fun-filled area where sick children
can come for a little recreation.
"We generally use our closed-circuit
TV for in-room bingo games" said
Kathleen Groebel, supervisor of the
Child Life Center. "This is a nice way
for Miranda to fulfill her goal; and her
stories will be broadcast to all pediatric
patients, even those in isolation"
After Miranda was finished read-
ing, she called a game of in-room
bingo with Lefkov, with whom she
bantered and joked during the taping
while announcing the room numbers
of the patients who had won. It seems
Miranda has a future in broadcasting if
she's so inclined.
Her dad, Alan, said he was very
proud of her. "She's a very selfless per-
son"

❑

If you are a Jewish child between the ages of 7-11 who has a dream to
perform a mitzvah but don't know how to do it, or are a member of
the community or 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, cio the Jewish News, 29200
Northwestern Highway, Suite 110, Southfield, MI 48034

16 January 8 • 2015