APRIL 1 • 2021 | 23
His mother used to volunteer at
Berkley Public Library; in tribute to her,
Greenwald recently participated in a
Zoom class for the same library, demon-
strating how to make his famous mac
and cheese.
Elwin & Co: (248) 547-8846.
THE SUIT DEPOT
The Suit Depot in Oak Park was likewise
hard-hit when everything closed last
March; people had no reason to buy new
clothes, especially not suits.
Owner Marty Babayov said, “For more
than four months we were completely
closed while our usual overhead expens-
es continued to pile up. Industry-wide,
men’s suit sales dropped by more than
80%. Now that we’ve reopened, we’re
doing much better than most in this
industry. Many had to shut their doors
permanently.”
Last summer, to raise awareness
of struggling local small businesses,
Babayov manufactured and distributed
thousands of reusable cloth masks with
the hashtag #MichiganStrong.
The Suit Depot usually hosts an annual
coat drive. This year, Babayov instead
reached out to Heart to Hart Detroit
(H2HD), an organization which supports
the homeless, and asked what items were
most needed. The answer: warm socks.
Babayov immediately called a supplier
and ordered 1,000 pairs of warm, top-of-
the-line diabetic socks and donated them
to H2HD.
Babayov said, “This isn’t just about
socks. It’s our obligation to show up for
our local charities, especially in these
trying times. This is about giving back,
helping out wherever we can and show-
ing up for each other.”
The Suit Depot: (248) 200-7484.
MI SHE-BEI-ROCK
Betsy Besl has a few small businesses
out of her home in Farmington Hills,
including Mi She-Bei-ROCK, a play on
the words “Mi Sheberach,” the prayer
for healing. Since 2013, Besl has been
decorating rocks with different Jewish
symbols: the Star of David, chai and the
chamzah hand. People started requesting
hearts and inspirational quotes, and now
Besl has a wide variety of meaningful
stones that people can sift through before
purchasing the one that speaks to them.
“Some people keep it for themselves,
some give it to friends or family who are
sick. It’s like a tangible prayer that you’re
holding in your hand,” Besl explained.
When the pandemic hit, Besl invited
anyone who had a friend or relative in
the medical field to help themselves to a
“healing rock” free of charge. “I wanted
to send a little hope to the medical work-
ers, let them know we’re wishing them
well and hoping they stay healthy,” Besl
said.
Besl, who taught at Temple Israel for
18 years before she became sick with
cancer, also runs the Funky Craft Studio
for kids out of her house, but the pan-
demic put a stop to that as well. Instead,
she began offering creative activities to
families, free of charge. Most fun was her
Monster Shoe Contest — families were
invited to decorate shoes to look like
monsters and she promptly arranged the
entries into an online monster shoe show
gallery.
“I just wanted to keep families engaged
and connected to each other, help build
Elwin Greenwald,
owner of Elwin & Co.
Betsy
Besl
“THIS IS ABOUT GIVING
BACK, HELPING OUT
WHEREVER WE CAN.”
— THE SUIT DEPOT’S MARTY BABAYOV
continued on page 25