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.