DECEMBER 31 • 2020 | 19
neighborhoods, some very grim,
because Pasteur students live
all over Detroit. (The school is
considered a good one and par-
ents can choose a school outside
their area.) Because of COVID,
they met to sort out gift items,
and then each drove alone to
deliver them, calling the families
the day before to alert them.
“People were so appreciative.
These are the kids we’ve gotten
to know over the years,
” says
Wagenheim.
Some families had particularly
tragic circumstances. One moth-
er was living with seven children
in a relative’s house. There were
eight homeless families — some
living in shelters. A few months
ago, a Pasteur student died of
complications of asthma. A
balloon release was held in her
memory outside the school.
Wagenheim attended, giving the
mother $500 from the Pasteur
Friends for funeral expenses.
“People have been extremely
generous,
” says Feldman. They
received donations from people
who had just learned about
the Pasteur Friends as well as
longtime supporters, some
multi-generational. Some of
this year’s Christmas gifts were
donated by Howard Goldman,
owner of H and H Wholesale,
a local distributor to drug
stores. Elizabeth Jacobs and
Howard Davis chair the Friends’
Christmas Committee.
Rebecca Blumenstein, who
attended kindergarten at
Pasteur, is a supporter of Pasteur
Friends and helped secure a
donation from a New York
charitable fund. She is deputy
managing editor of the New
York Times.
The Pasteur Friends expect
to spend $28,000 for Christmas
gifts for Pasteur’s 260 families.
Each family will receive a $75
gift card as well as toys and
household items. A smaller
group of especially needy fam-
ilies will receive additional help
including food boxes from
Project Healthy Community.
This nonprofit provides healthy
food and health-related educa-
tional programs in partnership
with Hartford Memorial Baptist
Church in Detroit. The orga-
nization was started by Rabbi
Joshua Bennett and Dr. Melvyn
Rubenfire and his late wife,
Diane.
After Christmas, the Friends
want to bolster student par-
ticipation in online pandemic
learning. “Kids can’t stay online
all day. They are dropping
through the cracks. There is
no joy in being by yourself all
day in front of the computer,
”
Wagenheim says.
School staff members have
asked them to develop an incen-
tive program, perhaps offering
gift certificates for meals or
other presents to encourage stu-
dents to “come and stay online
every day. I’m not aware of any
other schools doing this,
” she
adds.
“We care about our families
and we’re doing our best … It’s a
blessing what Pasteur is doing,
”
says Comeaux.
For more information, visit
friendsofpasteur.org.
Today there are 1,500 alumni on
the Friends of Pasteur mailing list
and 175 supporters from all over
the U.S., Canada and Israel. Most
are Pasteur alumni, relatives or
friends of alumni, and many are
Jewish. Pasteur’s catchment area
encompasses the Green Acres and
Sherwood Forest neighborhoods
east of Livernois, as well as the
area around the school, located on
Stoepel, a block west of Livernois.
The group evolved after a Mumford
High School reunion led to a social
get together of Jewish and African
American women alumni who want-
ed to “catch up” after many years.
Prior to the pandemic, Feldman
says that about 40 volunteers
served at Pasteur — some as
regular tutors or assistants in the
afterschool art club funded by the
Friends, and others who speak at
Career and Earth Day events. Many
are alumni but others are residents
of the Pasteur neighborhood. Some
are tutoring virtually.
An annual special activity takes
sixth-grade students to see live
performances of Anne Frank, pro-
duced by the Jewish Ensemble
Theater. Students also receive
books, as well as tablets and schol-
arships for selected students grad-
uating from sixth grade.
Sharon Lawson, now retired,
who was Pasteur’s principal for
15 years, says that the volunteers
“opened up the school. It was such
a joy having them around.” She
said that it was valuable for the stu-
dents to have the new experiences
that they provided. Lawson serves
on the board of Pasteur Friends.
Wagenheim points out that the
organization is volunteer-run and
operated. Their only administrative
costs are to maintain their website
and PayPal account. “All of the
money donated goes to benefit the
children,” she says.
LEFT: Board members
Deborah Terrell and
Elizabeth Jacobs get
ready for gift distribu-
tion. RIGHT: Volunteers
Marcy Feldman, Lean
Crumm and Celia
Savonen help with gifts.
BOTTOM: Five of the
volunteers from Friends
of Pasteur helping
organize Christmas
gifts: Marcy Feldman,
Howard Davis, Deborah
Terrell, Celia Savonen
and Wendy Wagenheim.