» gi f t g u i d e 2 0 1 7
At Magen David Adom,
we’re often saving lives before
our ambulances even arrive.
Give the gift of skydiving.
continued from page 40
At Magen David Adom, Israel’s national EMS service, help
begins the moment the phone is answered. Because EMTs
handle the calls, they can provide lifesaving instructions while
dispatching ambulances and first-responders on Medicycles.
And now, with 15,000 CPR-certified civilian Life Guardians
joining our team, help can be just seconds away.
As we celebrate Chanukah, please give the gift of life,
and make your year-end tax-deductible donation today.
AFMDA Midwest Region
3175 Commercial Avenue, Suite 101
Northbrook, IL 60062
Toll-Free 888.674.4871 • midwest@afmda.org
www.afmda.org
42
December 7 • 2017
jn
their life. I feel such joy in watch-
ing them dance at their wedding
for the first time as husband and
wife. Preparing the future bride and
groom for that dance is a gift of
love,” she says.
When Debra Walter, a personal
chef from Huntington Woods,
turned 50, some of her friends got
her a gift card for Zingerman’s
Bakehouse, knowing that Walter
had always wanted to take cooking
classes at the popular Ann Arbor
establishment.
Walter, who trained at the
Culinary Institute of America in
New York, says she learns great
baking tips and techniques in the
Jewish cookies, Italian cookies and
challah-baking classes she’s taken.
Sammy Vieder, also of
Huntington Woods, is an aspiring
chef who became a bar mitzvah
last summer. In addition to receiv-
ing envelopes full of cash and
checks, Vieder got a chance to be
a sous chef at Bacco Ristorante
in Southfield. Longtime fam-
ily friend Sheri Mark got permis-
sion and made arrangements for
Vieder to spend the better part of a
Saturday helping the chef prepare
for a catered event. He chopped
vegetables, helped make soup and
brought home what his mom, Stacy,
described as a “really delicious”
veggie lasagna. He also had the
opportunity to talk with various
restaurant staff including the head
chef and pastry chef.
Sheri Mark, who also likes to
spend time in the kitchen, has
cooked with Vieder before and likes
to give experiences as gifts.
“I like giving experiences more
than going to the store and buying
someone a gift because I think it
says I’m really thinking about you.
It’s from the heart,” says Mark of
Bloomfield Hills.
When giving an experience as a
gift, Pomeroy recommends finding
out what the recipient is passion-
ate about or enjoys and looking
for something related to his or her
interest. Groupon, Yipit and other
online coupon sites frequently have
deals on a host of activities includ-
ing ice skating, indoor trampoline
parks, dance or yoga classes. They
also offer less mainstream activities
including fencing classes, wine tast-
ings, archery, glass blowing, flying
and skydiving lessons, just to name
a few.
Money toward classes and team
sports are also popular gifts but can
end up costing the parents more if
the child wants to continue with
the classes or lessons. For example,
Bloomfield Township mom Beth
Goldberg jokes that the gift of swim
lessons her son received from her
brother ended up costing her a
fortune. While it got her son Jack
started with swimming, he con-
tinued with those lessons until he
was comfortable in the water, she
recalls.
“These experiences are far better
than gifts like toys,” Goldberg says,
“because while a toy eventually gets
thrown out, the memory of an expe-
rience or the skills learned from the
experience lasts.” •