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you get from doing good in the 
community — it certainly makes 
my life more worth living than if I 
weren’t so involved.
”

ELLA LEWIS
Ella Lewis, 15, is the 
winner of the Under 
18 JN Volunteer 
of the Year award 
for her work with 
Friendship Circle.
Ella, a Groves High School stu-
dent and Adat Shalom Synagogue 
member from Bloomfield Hills, is 
known as an amazing buddy for 
children with special needs and 
a dedicated, caring person with 
a special bond with Friendship 
Circle’s kids.
She was nominated by 
Olivia Feldman, a counselor in 
Friendship Circle’s summer day 
camp.
“Ella has a very special gift of 
being able to work with kids with 
special needs, and it’s so awe-
some to watch,
” Feldman said. “It 
shows what a selfless person she 
is. I’m so proud of her. Being her 
counselor, I got to see her growth 
throughout the summer. If she 
chooses to go further down this 
path, she would be great at it.
”
This was Ella’s fourth summer 
volunteering with Friendship 
Circle’s camps. She says she vol-
unteers at Friendship Circle not 
because she has to or because she 
wants to get recognized. She does 
it because she loves doing it.
“I love working with the kids 
there,
” Ella said. “I think being a 
volunteer is as beneficial to the 
kids I’m working with as it is to 
me, because I think I’m able to 
learn a lot about myself and grow 
as a person. It’s definitely a big 
part of my life and it’s something I 
love to do. I plan on continuing to 
do it for a long time.
” 

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Our three winners are only a 
handful of the people giving 
their time and talent to helping 

Detroit’s Jewish community. Here 
are others, in random order, who 
deserve our thanks with a heart-
felt honorable mention.

65 AND UP

Ed Kohl is active in 
Volunteers for Israel, 
which seeks volun-
teers from the gener-
al community to pro-
vide support services 
to the Israel Defense Forces in 
Israel. Ed has also volunteered 
and been recognized for his work 
with Stand With Us, the Zionist 
Organization of America, Adat 
Shalom Synagogue and the 
Michigan Jewish Action Council.

Gail Katz has been 
instrumental in orga-
nizing Religious 
Diversity Journeys, 
the World Sabbath 
and many other 
interfaith events around the city. 
She has worked for years to devel-
op interfaith programs and activi-
ties for students and adults, bring-
ing together faith leaders and their 
faith communities for dialogue 
and understanding. She has also 
been involved in interfaith work 
at NCJW|MI where she co-chairs 
many committees, and co-found-
ed WISDOM, an interfaith orga-
nization where women can share 
their religious traditions. Gail is a 
member of Temple Israel and is 
active member of its sisterhood as 
well.

Gary Cooper is the song leader 
at Temple Shir Shalom where he 
has been an active volunteer for 
more than 20 years. Willing to 
help whenever needed for a social 
action activity or a musical need, 
Gary leads tefilah at SHORESH 
on Sunday mornings (Temple’s 
Religious School) at Shabbat ser-
vices and High Holiday family ser-
vices and performs in the Purim 
Spiel band and at Java Havdalah, 
Temple’s coffeehouse concerts. 

Suzanne Berman volunteers with 
ORT America, where she substi-
tutes in the office when the staff is 
out sick, manages and implements 
emails to members regarding 
fundraising and programs, and 
works to maintain relationships, 
which is so important, especial-
ly in pandemic. Suzanne often 
would log 30 hours of work in the 
office. Her efforts support ORT 
schools worldwide and locally at 
the Hermelin ORT center.

Sallyjo Levine volun-
teers for everything at 
Temple Shir Shalom, 
where she heads its 
social action group 
and organizes its 
annual Tikun Olam-athon that 
involves 350 people with 18 orga-
nizations. She participates in 
adopting families for the holidays 
and thinks nothing of cooking 
food for families, organizing a 
food drive or shopping for a fami-
ly. She also volunteers with NCJW 
and Yad Ezra.

Deb Ford helps run 
the weekly pop-up 
food pantry at 
Temple Kol Ami, 
where she greets their 
neighbors and offers 
a kind, friendly face and a sup-
portive ear. Her work at the pan-
try, week after week, no matter the 
weather, is a labor of love and 
light.

Arthur Fishman is a 
volunteer who is part 
of everything that 
happens at Temple 
Shir Shalom. His 
“hellos” and “Shabbat 
shaloms” are what have greeted 
people in the sanctuary since the 
temple’s beginning. Arthur has 
also been guiding and inspiring 
the Jewish War Veterans for years, 
supporting vets at every opportu-
nity possible.

Joey Roberts is a vol-
unteer who does 
“anything and every-
thing” for The Shul. 
His volunteering 
extends from work-
ing with young children to a gen-
tleman of 100 years. He has deliv-
ered food, books and Shabbat 
bags to those with health issues. 
Since his wife’s death from cancer, 
he went through training with his 
dog, Rosy, to have her certified as 
a therapy dog. He and Rosy visit 
nursing homes and hospice cen-
ters to bring a little cheer.

Irma Glaser is the 
past-president of 
NCJW|MI and has 
spent many years as a 
public policy advo-
cate. She has been a 
dedicated volunteer for more than 
50 years to a variety of organiza-
tions in Jewish Detroit. 

David Broner volun-
teers with Southeast 
Michigan SCORE 
and Hebrew Free 
Loan, where he men-
tors small business 
owners and entrepreneurs, often 
going above and beyond to 
become their life coach.

Amy Cutler is the 
current president of 
NCJW|MI since May 
2020, and led the 
organization through 
the pandemic, mar-
shalling the corps of volunteers at 
NCJW so that they could contin-
ue providing positive communi-
ty-changing programs like Meals 
on Wheels, the Council Thrift 
Store and other NCJW projects.

AGES 18-64

George Roberts
chaired the building 
renovation commit-
tee at the Isaac Agree 
Downtown 
Synagogue. He has 
given hundreds of hours to meet 

OUR COMMUNITY

