22 | FEBRUARY 17 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

O

n Feb 1, Hillel Day School held its sixth annual 
Heroes Panel, where Hillel fifth-grade students hear 
stories about and get inspired by local heroes. 
Among the speakers at the panel was Joanne Lukasik, 
financial controller at Hillel, who told her life story and pas-
sion for playing hockey ever since she was a young girl, even 
after having both legs severed just below the knees at 16 years 
old in a farming accident.
Other panelists included Tom Fitzgerald, who gave his 
father one of his kidneys in 2019; Hillel teacher Amy Piesz, 
who told the story of a neighbor saving her dog from a house 
fire; Rabbi Harold Loss, telling the story of Bill Farber, a 
philanthropist and businessman who transformed the Metro 
Detroit Jewish community by giving away all of his money 
before his passing in 2017; and Nicole Miller, a Hillel fac-
ulty member and close relative of Tate Myre, a student who 

COURTESY OF HILLEL

Hillel holds “Heroes Panel” 
for fifth graders. 

Highlighting 
Local Heroes

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Rabbi Harold 
Loss with Hillel 
students Cailey 
Levine, Mia 
Levine and 
Sydney Dolgin.

LEFT: Financial 
controller at Hillel, 
Joanne Lukasik, 
whose passion for 
playing hockey 
continues decades 
after an accident. 
RIGHT: Tom 
Fitzgerald, along 
with his father, John, 
who he gave one 
of his kidneys to in 
2019. 

