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Thanksgiving Mentshes

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Two families help make the holiday
special for those in need.

Stories by Jennifer Lovy I Special to the Jewish News

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o Thanksgiving dinners ago, Bill
Birndorf sat comfortably in his
West Bloomfield home, watching
a news story about a local woman who
could not provide her family with a holi-
day dinner because her car broke down
on the way to pick up a donated turkey.
The piece really resonated with him
because Birndorf told his wife, Holly, that
they should buy 1,000 turkeys to donate
next year.
"She told me I was crazy — and I sug-
gested we donate the accompaniments,
too:' Birndorf says.
Almost one year later — three days
before Thanksgiving to be exact —
four semi-trucks filled with complete
Thanksgiving meal kits were distributed
to 1,000 of Detroit's neediest families.
In just 12 months, Birndorf, through
a newly created nonprofit called Higher
Hopes!, received enough monetary and
in-kind donations and secured enough

Tw

Gold bergs' 37 Years
Of Giving Kosher Dinners

ven after 37 years, the good feel-
ing that comes from helping
those in need never gets old.
Next month, for the 37th time, Nate
Goldberg and his family will distribute
kosher Thanksgiving baskets to honor
the memory of his parents, Harry and
Jeanette Goldberg.
"Our parents always had people over
for dinner on Sundays," Goldberg says.
"Our home became the family meeting
spot and nobody was ever turned away.
It's what I've grown up with and one
of the happiest things for me [now] is
when we have dinner guests."
In 1978, Goldberg's sister, Lois
Fishman, along with some of her
friends, came up with the idea to
extend their parents' generosity to
the community with the Goldberg
Thanksgiving Distribution.
Through a partnership with Jewish
Family Service and Yad Ezra, the
Goldbergs fundraise thousands of dol-
lars each year to support the program
that allows local Jewish families the

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www.FranklinClub.com

14 November 19 2015

JN

volunteers to help feed between 8,000
and 12,000 people.
"Imagine all the seats along the first-
base line at Comerica Park," Birndorf
says. "That's how many people we
were able to provide with a complete
Thanksgiving dinner."
Birndorf credits the success of his ini-
tiative to the help and support of family
and friends as well as local businesses,
national companies and other nonprofit
organizations that offered advice and
assistance.
For example, the Order of the
Fisherman Ministry takes the lead in
identifying families in Head Start pro-
grams in Detroit that would benefit from
a Thanksgiving meal donation. Families
in Head Start programs are those with
low income and young children not yet
in kindergarten. "They are the neediest
of the needy:' Birndorf says.
Project Healthy Community, based in

opportunity to prepare and enjoy a
kosher Thanksgiving meal.
Last year, 125 baskets were distrib-
uted to families selected by JFS. Each
was filled with all the traditional side
dishes to prepare a Thanksgiving meal,
including fresh and canned vegetables,
pumpkin pie, stuffing mix as well as a
gift certificate to purchase a turkey or
another type of meat or fish.
Turkeys were distributed in the past,
but, because of the weight, Goldberg

Perry Ohren, JFS executive director,

with Nate Goldberg