K lezmer

metro »

Wednesday, April 6, 2016 t 7 p.m.

A Taste of

FEATURING

YALE STROM

and

Yiddish Songs, Stories &
Sweets from Eastern Europe

New Fundraising Site

Young Detroiters follow a lifetime path
of helping others.

E

Ronelle Grier | Contributing Writer

njoy a Klezmer performance,
sing with Holocaust survivors the
songs of their youth, and nosh
on dessert.

E V E N T G E N E R O U S LY S U P P O R T E D B Y:

Q Admission fee is membership to
the Holocaust Memorial Center

Doris and Fred Blechman
Robin and Leo Eisenberg

Shari (Ferber) and Alon Kaufman
Meyer and Anna Prentis Family
Foundation
Elaine and Michael Serling

Q Space is limited. RSVP required
to 248.553.2400,
ext. 119

Pam & Ken Bloom

CHAIRS

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS

28123 Orchard Lake Rd. t Farmington Hills, MI 48334 www.holocaustcenter.org

2082260

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26 March 24 • 2016

Artur Furman and
Zach Firestone of
Welzoo

HOT PSTROMI

W

hile volunteering for a
nonprofit organization is a
way for some teens to fulfill
their bar or bat mitzvah requirements,
for others it is the first step on a lifetime
path of helping others that continues into
adulthood.
Such is the case with Zach Firestone,
23, Jonathan Kaufman, 24, and Artur
Fruman, 24, native Detroiters and co-
founders of Welzoo, a New York-based
online company that enables users to fund
their favorite charities — without spend-
ing a dime of their own money.
The three friends say Welzoo was
inspired by the years they spent volunteer-
ing for Friendship Circle of Michigan, a
local organization that provides programs
for children with special needs and their
families based on a philosophy of friend-
ship and unconditional acceptance.
After graduating high school and col-
lege, the group found that, while the desire
to help remained, time and funds were not
as plentiful. They brainstormed to find a
way for others in similar situations to be
charitable without breaking the budget.
“We realized enormous amounts of
people want to support a cause but can’t or
won’t reach into their pockets,” Firestone
said. “We wanted to come up with a way
for a person from any walk of life to sup-
port a cause without needing time or
money.”
The group launched the business first
in Metro Detroit and Ann Arbor before
moving to New York, where they began
to build a team, including Zalman Notik,
24, a nonprofit marketing expert from
Crown Heights. Kaufman currently serves
as an adviser. Marketing is done through
nonprofits, student organizations and
bloggers. Online advertising on Google,
Facebook and other social media sites also
helps spread the word.
The premise is simple. A user selects
Welzoo as his/her homepage and chooses
a favorite charity or school organization.
Then, every time the person goes online,
a one cent donation is made, up to a
maximum of six cents per day. The money
comes from sponsors — individuals,
corporations or local businesses. Users are
presented with a new website every day,
based on their interests. Sponsors benefit

from Welzoo because it introduces a more
focused form of advertising, targeted
directly toward the users’ interests and
demographics.
The site has more than 1.6 million
nonprofit organizations, plus numerous
student organizations, fraternities, sorori-
ties and college clubs. Volunteer interns
across the country help by serving as col-
lege representatives, preparing data and
meeting with local organizations to recruit
new participants.
Says the website, www.welzoo.com, “Be
a part of the world’s largest Passive-Action
fundraising community. Change your start
page — and change the world.”
Since the site was officially launched in
late November 2014, more than 20,000
active users have signed up, and nearly
$119,000 has been raised.
“The Friendship Circle was our flagship
charity and our guinea pig,” Firestone said.
“They’ve helped us every step of the way
and have been our trusted advisers.”
Other local nonprofits on the site are
JARC, Hillel Day School, Frankel Jewish
Academy and Summer in the City.
“One of the accomplishments we are
proudest of is the effect volunteering
has on our volunteers,” said Rabbi Levi
Shemtov, executive director of Friendship
Circle of Michigan. “Welzoo certainly
demonstrates that aspect of Friendship
Circle, and we are very proud of the
founders. We hope future volunteers will
also be inspired to take what they learn
here into their lives.”
Welzoo is currently designed to work on
computers and laptops, not cell phones or
other mobile browsers, in keeping with its
original premise of providing a completely
free and passive way to generate charitable
contributions. Users can support only one
organization at a time, but choices can be
easily changed through Account Settings
on the site.
“They were energetic and creative as
kids, out-of-the-box thinkers, so I’m not
surprised,” said Steve Freedman, head
of school for Hillel Day School, where
the three young adults were students.
“Tzedakah was an important part of their
mission. They were driven by the Jewish
values they learned in school and at
home.”

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