DECEMBER 5 • 2019 | 21 Last year on the truck, both experienced eye-opening moments, including driving through Jerry’ s childhood neighborhood, which he found unrecognizable, and meeting young children who had not eaten since the day before. “Our experience on that food truck was so profound and heartbreaking, but we love doing it. We truly believe in tikkun olam, making the world a better place, ” Jerry said. This sentiment is wide- ly shared among volun- teers, including Stern who brings along her children. “Volunteering is a mitzvah in and of itself, but doing the hands-on work is extremely rewarding, ” she added. This year, the Stelmaszaks will be serving as site cap- tains at Cass Community Social Services and Methodist Children’ s Home Society where they will play games and help assemble Christmas presents with boys in the foster care system. Patty has already gone online to purchase toys and other items for the youth they will be visiting. Many of the sites continue to request volunteers because of the touching care they receive from volunteers, such as the Stelmaszaks and Sterns, each Christmas Day. One of these organizations is the HOPE Inc. Adult Shelter and Recuperative Center in Pontiac. “ A goal of my agency is to reconnect those experi- encing homelessness with the community. These individuals often feel disconnected and invisible when they are on the street, ” said Elizabeth Kelly, the nonprofit’ s executive director. “The amazing Mitzvah Day volunteers not only provide that connection that make HOPE guests feel valued, but they do this in a joyful, fun way. The games, snacks and, especially, the conversation is often life-changing for HOPE’ s guests. Asking someone about their day may not seem like much, but for those who don’ t often experience it, this is often something that the per- son recalls later as the tipping point to make them feel as if they belong.” With more than 600 vol- unteer spaces to fill, spots are still available. Register by Dec. 20 at mitzvahdaydetroit2019. eventbrite.com. Stern suggests that potential volunteers read thoroughly through each orga- nization’ s description as each outlines arrival information, age restrictions and other important details. For more information, con- tact Sandy Lippitt at slippitt@ jfmd.org. This story was first published on myjewishdetroit.org. Julie Rosenbaum with Pearl and Simon Rosenbaum and Randi Sakwa (JCRC/AJC board member) at the JARC Nusbaum house JCRC/AJC Secretary Phil Neuman and his daughter, Elie, at St. Leo’ s Soup Kitchen Small Acts of Kindness Make the Biggest Difference TWENTY-FIVE YEARS Barbara Guttman fi rst heard about Friendship Circle when her youngest daughter was in high school. Her daughter joined several friends to help at the Friendship Circle After School Program, ‘buddying up’ with local children with special needs. At a Friendship Circle event several years ago, Guttman heard Rabbi Benny, Director of the Daniel B. So- bel Friendship House, share about its mission to sup- port those struggling with addiction or life crisis. He spoke about the work they did providing Shabbat meals to individuals in hospitals, nursing homes or unable to leave home. She knew this was something she needed to get involved with. Three years later, Guttman is part of a weekly team of volunteers who join Benny and his wife, Bluma, to pre- pare Shabbat meals. Each bag is prepared with soup, bread and something sweet. Seeing the smile on the faces of each person she delivers a meal to is what keeps Guttman coming back week after week. Often, the Friendship House volunteers are the only visitors a recipi- ent will see that week. “The smile we’re able to put on those faces is a great reminder that it doesn’t take a lot of time to make a big difference in someone’s life!” says Guttman. “To me it’s a couple of hours on a Friday. To them, it’s knowing that someone cares enough to know they are Jewish and make sure they have a home- cooked meal for Shabbat.” Creating relationships with recipients is only part of the impact that Friendship House has had on Guttman. “It’s been such a learning experience to meet individ- uals in recovery that I would not normally meet in my life,” Guttman says . “We work alongside each other. That is what is amazing about Friendship House. There is no us or them. We all have our own journeys to get us here. And, we can all help.” Guttman is one example of the many stories of vol- unteers inside of Friendship House making a difference in the lives of the community. Get involved, go to friendshipcircle.org/ foreverfriendship