MARCH 4 • 2021 | 25

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tudents of JCC’s Sarah 
& Irving Pitt Child 
Development Center 
created family trees in honor 
of Tu b’Shevat, which staff have 
plastered along the hallways of 
the center.
Staff sent home all the basic 
materials the families would 
need to create the trees and 
asked them to sit with their chil-
dren and talk about what trees 
provide and what they enjoy 
doing outside in nature.
The families created the 
trees together and the students 
brought them to school. 
Shannon Hall, director of the 
Center, did a short “walk in the 
trees” during a Facebook Live 
stream on Jan. 28 for all the chil-
dren and their families to see the 
trees in the building. Parents are 

not currently allowed inside the 
building due to COVID restric-
tions. 
“Usually, families take a really 
long time picking up their chil-
dren because they’re looking at 
all the wonderful family trees, 
but this year with them not 
being able to come into our 
building, we felt like this was 
such a great way for the children 
to ‘see’ their families inside of 
our building,
” Hall said. “It’s been 
really a different year due to the 
pandemic and this has brought 
so much happiness to them.
“
A lot of our families were 
very appreciative because it’s 
been a long time since they’ve 
been inside our hallways,
” Hall 
added. “This has just been a 
really fun way to celebrate Tu 
b’Shevat.
” 

Children at JCC 
Celebrate Tu b’Shevat 
with Family Trees

DANNY SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

1. Zelda, age 2, and Yoela, age 23 months, Kimmel. 2. Gabrielle Blechman, 
age 4. 3. Kaylee Budai, age 1.5. 4. Terran Merker shows off his family tree.
5. Jordyn Monson, age 4. 6. Charlotte Bogorad, age 3. 

PHOTOS COURTESY JCC SARAH & IRVING PITT CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER

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Puzzled by the 
Cold Weather?

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till agonizingly bored 
from the isolation 
of the pandemic? 
Running out of things to 
watch on Netflix? Hadassah 
Greater Detroit may have 
the cure. 
Hadassah is having a 
jigsaw puzzle fundraising 
sale, which ends at noon on 
March 31.
The puzzle has 500 pieces, 
measuring 13 x 19 inches. 
The picture on the puzzle 
is from one of the covers of 
Hadassah Magazine, show-
ing the founding women of 
Hadassah with women in 
the Israeli Army. Puzzles are 
$36 each.
Hadassah, the Women’s 
Zionist Organization of 
America, represents approx-
imately 4,000 Greater 
Detroit area women. Mandy 
Garver, a co-vice presi-

dent of philanthropy, said 
the fundraiser money is 
going to Hadassah Medical 
Organization’s general fund. 
Puzzles can be purchased 
online at hadassahmidwest. 
networkforgood.com/
events/25667-greater-de-
troit-puzzle-sale and are 
available for pickup or 
delivery. Contact Garver 
at mandy.garver@gmail.
com to arrange a time to 
pick it up at her house or 
she’ll drop it off. Shipping is 
available for an additional 
$10 per puzzle. 
“It gives you something 
to do together with your 
family,” Garver said. “It’s 
a nice indoor thing when 
you’re trying to figure out 
what you can do while the 
snow is still on the ground 
here, that’s indoors and isn’t 
putting you at risk.” 

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Hadassah offers 500-piece jigsaw 
for indoor fun.

