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Magic Of Mitzvah Day!
Volunteer event allows Christians to
celebrate Christmas with their families.
Micki Grossman. Volunteers delivered
toys to children, prepared and deliv-
ered meals, played bingo with seniors,
visited with veterans, sorted books for
Bookstock and much more.
“The Mitzvah Day spirit was conta-
gious,” said team captain Bobbi Gutman.
“Although the volunteers are amazing,
we have to give credit to people like
Chef Michael and the catering staff of
Providence Hospital in Novi, who pre-
pared and donated 145 special holiday
meals for the Meals on Wheels clients.”
The Maple Theater in Bloomfield
Township and Riviera Cinema in
Farmington Hills also got into the spirit
of giving back, donating movie passes for
all Mitzvah Day volunteers.
Photos by Jeff Aisen
M
ore than 800 volunteers came
together Dec. 25 to spread
good will at 43 project sites
throughout Metro Detroit, making
Mitzvah Day the largest single day of vol-
unteering in Detroit’s Jewish community.
Volunteers replaced Christian staff and
volunteers so they could celebrate the
holiday with their families.
For the seventh year, volunteers from
the Michigan Muslim Community
Council worked alongside Jewish volun-
teers at many sites.
Organized by the Jewish Community
Relations Council and the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
Mitzvah Day was co-chaired by Janet
Berman, Seth Fisher, Milt Neuman and
At Mariners Inn sorting clothes: (back) Phil Pinkelman of Grand Rapids, Logan Wert of Troy,
Ruth Lincoln of Detroit and Seth Fisher of West Bloomfield, Mitzvah Day co-chair and a team
captain; (middle) Allan Wilson of Waterford, Erin Walker of Huntington Woods, Scott Mitnick
and Natalie Perach, both of Birmingham, and Jeremy Walker of Huntington Woods; (front)
Rickie Willens of Hamtramck and Les Gorback of Franklin. (Not pictured: David Willens of
Huntington Woods.)
*
Wendy and Howard Lazar, a team captain, show their spirit
at Jimmy’s Kids in Southwest Detroit.
Linda and Richard Luken of Farmington Hills and Merrick
Bartlett of Livonia, center, box meals for clients at the
Detroit Agency on Aging.
Hannah and Russ Gordon of Farmington Hills volunteer
with Munzer and Maisha wRahman at St. Peters and Paul
Jesuit Warming Center in Detroit.
Volunteers at St.
Leo’s, with Team
Captain Matt
Prentice, left,
prepared and
served meals to
Detroit clients.
JCRC Executive
Director David
Kurzmann visits
with Jim Tuman,
founder of
Jimmy’s Kids.
Kadima Joins Mitzvah Day
I
n the spirit of giving back to the com-
munity, Kadima clients — for the first
time — volunteered for Mitzvah Day on
Dec. 25.
Last year, Kadima, which serves Metro
Detroiters with mental health needs, was a
site for other volunteer groups to offer mitz-
vahs within Kadima residential communities.
This year, Kadima signed up so its clients
could volunteer their help to others.
The volunteers picked up more than 50
18 January 21 • 2016
meals from Forgotten Harvest in Oak Park
and delivered them to people in Pontiac who
would otherwise go hungry.
Though this was the first time volunteers
participated in Mitzvah Day, Kadima clients
volunteer throughout the year at Forgotten
Harvest and many other organizations, pack-
ing meals, working with seniors, helping ani-
mals and other activities. Last year, Kadima
was honored as one of the top 10 producing
organizations at Forgotten Harvest.
*
Kadima volunteers:
Rivka Grossinger,
Kadima staffer
Shelley Spinner,
Sharon Glazer, Fran
Gendler and Kadima
Clinical Director
Jean Nemenzik.