18 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
IN
THE
JEWS D
T
he gymnasium at
Pasteur School in
northwest Detroit was
now a Christmas gift distri-
bution center. The long tables
normally used for lunch
were stacked with boxes of
toys, games and books for
students, as well as house-
hold gifts for their parents.
Volunteers from the nonprof-
it Friends of Pasteur School
Detroit (previously the
Pasteur Elementary School
Alumni Association) as well
as school staff, some nervous
about being in a public set-
ting during the pandemic,
helped sort and organize so
that everything would be
ready when parents arrived
for their gifts on Dec. 16.
But this year’s holiday dis-
tribution took on new urgen-
cy and scope — changing
like many other aspects of life
because of the pandemic. The
Pasteur Alumni Association
was established in 1997 to
provide volunteer tutors, aca-
demic enrichment programs,
books, and scholarships for
Pasteur students. About 20
years ago, that assistance
expanded to helping 15 needy
families, identified annually
by school staff, with food
and presents for Christmas.
According to Marcy Feldman
of Huntington Woods,
founding president of the
Pasteur Friends, that group of
families had grown to 60 by
last year.
COVID-19 has been very
detrimental to Pasteur fam-
ilies, many of whom were
already below the poverty
line. After the school build-
ing closed due to COVID,
Pasteur counselor Tammie
Comeaux was making well-
ness calls to check on fam-
ilies. She found that many
families were experiencing
severe financial distress —
some due to job loss and
illness. “The community
seems to be changing. There
are fewer homeowners in the
area. Several families had to
leave due to eviction. One
woman is living in her car
and paying a family to care
for her daughter. It weighs on
you,
” says Comeaux.
She contacted the Pasteur
Friends and they immediately
offered help and began rais-
ing additional funds. Since
March, the Friends have pro-
vided $52,000 in assistance to
140 families, Feldman says.
Wendy Wagenheim of
Birmingham, chair of the
Pasteur Friends, says that
they delivered 203 Visa gift
cards for $250 each; these
cards can be used to pay bills
as well as purchase food and
other necessities. Some fami-
lies in particularly dire straits
received more than one gift
card over time, and all fami-
lies received children’s books
and art projects.
Wagenheim, Ann and
Barry Waldman, and
Elizabeth Jacobs distributed
the gifts in several Detroit
The Friends of Pasteur School help
needy families during the pandemic.
The Friends of Pasteur School help
Alumni
Step
The Friends of Pasteur School help
The Friends of Pasteur School help
UP
Pasteur students on a 2015 field trip to
the Detroit Institute of Arts provided
by the Friends of Pasteur. Pasteur
principal Sharon Lawson is at
the right in the last row with
the late songwriter/artist
Allee Willis in
front of her.
TOP: Howard Davis, Pasteur Friends
board member and co-chair of the
Christmas Committee, helps organize gifts.
BOTTOM: Pasteur Friends’ Generational
Connections: Marcy Feldman (left) attend-
ed Pasteur with Lillian Baxter (deceased),
whose sister Terena Moore, contributes
to Friends of Pasteur. Feldman is pictured
with Arlina, Moore’s daughter, a former
Pasteur student who attended the school's
first reunion in 1997, and her son Jonathan,
who Feldman has tutored at Pasteur.