views guest column 20 Million Pounds And Still Counting … T Jewish community came together to wenty-eight years ago, Yad Ezra, address a hunger issue in a dignified, Michigan’s only kosher food caring and generous fashion. pantry, opened its doors to pro- “Our tradition teaches that there will vide free supplemental groceries to always be needy in our community and low- income Jewish families living in that we are commanded to help southeast Michigan. At that those in need. Now distribut- time, it was difficult to convince ing over 1 million pounds of people in our community that groceries a year, the staff and there were Jewish families who volunteers of Yad Ezra, operat- were so vulnerable they couldn’t ing out of a 16,000-square-foot provide the most basic of neces- space, are truly guardians of sities for themselves. this sacred tradition.” If there were hungry Jewish This month, we distributed families, didn’t the U.S. gov- Lea Luger our 20 millionth pound of food. ernment provide them with Thousands of families have food through the food stamp been helped by our commu- program (now known as SNAP nity’s generous support of Yad — Supplemental Nutrition Ezra over the years and, yet, Assistance Program)? When the need continues. In Michigan alone, researched, it was discovered that the 583,884 individuals, representing 14.7 monthly SNAP benefit realistically lasted one week per family, if lucky; and, percent of Michigan’s population, are food insecure (i.e. they are not confident more often, not even that long. of having their next meal). Fortunately, the founders of Yad Ezra persevered; volunteers and supporters became engaged, and the food pantry ADDRESSING HUNGER started on its path of providing grocer- Congress addresses hunger through ies, toiletries and household cleaning rotating legislation including the items to families in need. Farm Bill, which comes up every five “It is amazing how quickly Yad Ezra years and includes funding for SNAP, became institutionalized in the Detroit Child Nutrition Reauthorization Jewish community, and how much of a (which also comes up for a vote every resource it has been continuously to the five years and provides funding for most vulnerable people in our area over school breakfast and lunch programs, the past 28 years,” said Gary Dembs, one snack programs and federal grants for of Yad Ezra’s founders and first presi- WIC [women, infants and children]) dent. “The human need will always be and Appropriation Bills that include there, and our volunteers will always TEFAP [the emergency food assistance step up to help their neighbors.” program], a supplemental food pro- Michael Eizelman, another Yad Ezra gram, tax credits and the Commodity founder and past president, said, “From Supplemental Food Program for the humble beginnings in a basement elderly. And yet, 42.2 million Americans office/warehouse/distribution space (12.7 percent of American households or of a few hundred square feet, a diverse more than 1 in 8 people) are food inse- Contributing Writers: Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Digital/Social Media Editor: Hannah Levine hlevine@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin2132@gmail.com Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us | Advertising Sales Sales Director: Keith Farber kfarber@renmedia.us Account Executives : Wendy Flusty, Annette Kizy cure. In the Metro Detroit Jewish com- munity, 1,300 families are food insecure, representing 3,000 individuals. The aver- age annual income of Yad Ezra’s client families is currently less than $14,000, most of which comes from social secu- rity benefits. “We started many years ago address- ing the simple truth that no one should ever go hungry and every per- son deserves wholesome food,” said a founder and former Yad Ezra president Howard Zoller. “We were confident in the knowledge that our community is so very generous … mixed in scores of dedicated volunteers and an amazing staff … and the result …Yad Ezra.” While Yad Ezra’s leadership is proud of the fact that we have been able to dis- tribute 20 million pounds of free grocer- ies over the past 28 years, it is humbling to realize that it is not enough. Over the years, Yad Ezra has embarked on a number of efforts to raise awareness about the issue of hun- ger through partnerships with other agencies, letter and paper plate cam- paigns, events and programs. While we continue to provide an increasingly large variety of healthy proteins, pro- duce, whole wheat carbs and other items every month, we can’t rest on our laurels. As an emergency food provider, we have made a moral commitment to our client families that they can continue to rely on us for food for as long as they need our help. To that end, efforts to help educate the community and provide a better understanding of food insecurity is important to Yad Ezra’s leadership. The Department of Human Services in Michigan states that the average food | Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kelly Kosek, Amy Pollard, Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker | Detroit Jewish News Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz ahorwitz@renmedia.us Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett kbrowett@renmedia.us Controller: Craig R. Phipps | Social Media Producer Andrea Gusho socialmedia@thejewishnews.com Sales Manager Assistants : Karen Marzolf | Business Offices Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Fulfillment Joelle Harder jharder@renmedia.us stamp allocation per person is $4.20 per day. Yad Ezra volunteers and staff who have helped clients register online for SNAP since 2007 prove otherwise; we have seen an average allocation of only $16 per month. TAKE THE FOOD STAMP CHALLENGE On May 23, we are hosting a 24-Hour Food Stamp Diet Challenge that begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Meijer on Telegraph and 12 Mile Road. Participants will meet at the store armed with $4.20 that they will use to buy food to feed them- selves for 24 hours. To fully experience the plight of someone relying on SNAP, no other food should be consumed other than the SNAP allocation for the 24-hour period. As the Farm Bill will soon again be up for Congress to determine dollars allocated for SNAP for impoverished families in the U.S., it is important for us to understand the impact and reli- ance on SNAP benefits for those living in poverty. While Yad Ezra is prepared to con- tinue providing free groceries to vulner- able families for as long as it is neces- sary, it is our hope that our government will continue to provide and improve its partnership with us in our efforts to ensure that no one suffer from hunger. “Yad Ezra has a proud history of serving our community, which started with the vision of our founders,” Jeffrey Supowit, Yad Ezra’s current president, said. “We never stop thinking about how to better serve our community and, God willing, distribute the next 20 million pounds.” • Lea Luger is executive director of Yad Ezra. | Departments General Offi ces: 248-354-6060 Advertising: 248-351-5107 Advertising Fax: 248-304-0049 Circulation: 248-351-5120 Classifi ed Ads: 248-351-5116 Advertising Deadline: Monday, 2 p.m. Editorial Fax: 248-304-8885 Deadline: All public and social announcements must be typewritten and received by noon Tuesday, nine days prior to desired date of publication. 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