AUGUST 6 • 2020 | 13
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www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184
Hebrew Free Loan Detroit
6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48301
@HFLDetroit
Hebrew Free Loan Board member Brett deMarrais
describes himself as marginally involved in the Jewish
community until he was recruited to join the Becker-
Marcus Mission to Israel. Brett says it was “totally life
changing. It really got my Judaism going.”
At a post-Mission overview of Federation agencies,
HFL Executive Director David Contorer’s description
of the agency captured Brett’s attention.
“I’m a partner in a venture capital group, so the
aspect of the loan capital recycling and funding the
needs of the Jewish community interested me right
away,” Brett said. “What took it from interesting to
fascinating was the idea that you see the impact of
HFL for yourself. Usually, when you donate or you
serve on a Board, you don’t see the people on the other
end of the donation, you don’t meet the beneficiaries
of your gala dinner ticket, and you don’t know how
much good you’re doing. The directness of HFL
made me want to be part of it.”
Brett spoke with current Board members, met with
David Contorer, volunteered to be a small business
mentor, and put himself in line for a Board vacancy
because he felt HFL was his place.
“I’ve never done anything more meaningful,” Brett
said. “I have a deep sense of gratitude in my own life for
what I have, and how I can use that to do good for others.”
Brett said the agency’s mission moved him so much
that he and his wife established two funds, the Ellen
deMarrais Memorial Education Fund, and the Marilyn
Berman Memorial Fund, in honor of their late mothers.
They also discovered his in-laws’ family connection to
HFL founding member Jacob Lasky. “I guess that means
it was meant to be that I’m part of such an amazing
program,” Brett said. “I can see a lot of good outcomes
here. It’s very powerful.”
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