54 | NOVEMBER 10 • 2022 

to Mexico.
“I use my power of OCD to 
get things done,” Gross laughs. 
“I use it for good, not evil. In a 
normal world, this logistically 
would have been a nightmare.”
Gross sought out 
philanthropic Jewish 
Americans who have ties to 
or homes in San Miguel de 
Allende, like Linda and Chuck 
Soberman of West Bloomfield, 
who helped Gross lay out a 
charitable path.
As more-than-luck would 
have it, the Fuentes family 
sells produce from their 
garden to an American family 
in San Miguel de Allende, 
who owns the ZOOMALO 
Moving and Storage company. 
ZOOMALO safely and 
expeditiously shipped a 4 ft. 
x 4 ft. crate, which was also 
donated, from Michigan to 
Mexico in May.
“Before, Jesus could only 
teach one person at a time. 
Now, with these new tools, he 
can teach three or four people 
at a time, which helps to 
bring in more money for the 
family. He used to use Dollar 
Store reading glasses, and 

now he has a microscope and 
much better equipment and 
tools,” says Gross, who lives in 
Huntington Woods with his 
wife and their three kids, all in 
their 20s.
“It just feels good to help 
them,” he adds. “If we’re able 
to help their daughter have a 
better life, she could change 
the world because of this 
opportunity.”

THANK YOU, MOM
Gross had a paper route 
when he was 14 and living in 
Southfield.
“My mother, Mimi Gross, 
was trying to figure out 
ways for me to be sparked 
to a career. She said, ‘Why 
don’t you contact my friend’s 
brother who has a jewelry 
store and see what it’s all 
about?’ and I said, ‘Sure,’” says 
Gross, who wound up working 
at that store until he was 16.
He swept the floors and 
learned to clean and polish 
jewelry.
“In the meantime, I would 
use the money I earned at the 
jewelry store to buy jewels 
and set up shop in my mom’s 
basement and teach myself 
how to make jewelry — or, 
at that point, how to ruin 

ARTS&LIFE
JEWELRY

COUNTER CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: 
This is the Arte Instituto of San Miguel 
De Allende that Gross would love to 
raise money for. “The pictures show the 
real need for better tools and a safer 
environment,” he said.

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