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.