30 | NOVEMBER 24 • 2022 

J

ohn Marx, 82, of West Bloomfield 
was nominated as Volunteer of 
the Week by the Michigan-based 
nonprofit JARC for his commitment to 
the organization. 
“There is no task too small or 
unimportant for John,” explains Shaindle 
Braunstein, JARC’s CEO.
“Regardless of whether it’s hours of 
filing or custom-wrapping 200 chocolate 
bars for a staff surprise, John is on it 
with no detail overlooked. He always 
has a smile on his face and some great 
entertainment cued up for his air pods,” 
she said. “John’s only motivation is to 
do what he can to ease the burden on 
our staff so they can remain focused on 
ensuring the people JARC serves live 
their best lives possible.”
The nonprofit serves people with 
developmental disabilities via group 
homes, independent living support and 
in-home respite care. 
Marx says he’s volunteered throughout 
his life, but it wasn’t until he retired that 
he started to be actively involved with 
organizations like the Jewish Federation 
of Metropolitan Detroit, Jewish Family 
Service, Temple Beth El’s Braille Bindery 
and JARC.
“When volunteering, you end up 
getting back much more than you end 
up giving. And it gives you a good 
feeling,” Marx said. 

In the past, Marx held a position on 
the JARC board for several years. Now 
he and his wife, Judy, continue to give 
back to the organization as volunteers on 
a regular basis.
“Judy and I have done various 
volunteer projects at the JARC homes,” 
Marx added. “For many years, I’ve 
helped put up a sukkah at one of the 
JARC homes and, in the spring, I help 
plant flowers.” 
When COVID hit, Marx had to pull 
back some of his volunteer work at the 
JARC homes. For the past two years, 
he’s been helping the JARC staff in their 
offices. 
“Anything that I could do to be 
helpful,” Marx said. “For JARC to keep 
running, they receive contributions 
from people in the community. And 
every one of those contributions has to 
get written down and eventually filed. 
Well, nobody who was getting paid to 
do other things wants to sit around and 
file all those things. So, that’s one of the 
things that I have been able to do, and it 
allows the JARC staff to focus on more 
important things.”
For almost 25 years, Marx has built a 

good relationship with some of the JARC 
residents. He and Judy sometimes invite 
them over to visit. 
 “My wife and I have had several of the 
JARC residents at our house for various 
events. Sometimes my wife plays the 
piano while we listen and enjoy snacks 
together,” he said.
Giving back to JARC is more than 
just volunteering to Marx. The staff and 
residents are like a second family to him. 
“There is no other organization in the 
city that has 20 group homes helping 
people with disabilities to live a relatively 
normal life. I admire everything JARC 
does for the people they serve.”
Marx says while he’s regularly involved 
with JARC, plenty of organizations 
throughout the community could 
use volunteers for support, and he 
encourages others to volunteer if they 
can. 

To learn more about JARC and how you can 

volunteer with the organization head to jarc.org. 

 

If you would like to nominate someone to be the 

next volunteer of the week, send a nomination 

with a short paragraph telling us why to rsweet@

thejewishnews.com.

OUR COMMUNITY

John Marx dedicates his time in retirement 
to giving back to the community.

The Joy of 
Giving Back 

RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR

VOLUNTEER OF THE WEEK

Judy and 
John Marx

John Marx 
volunteers at the 
JARC offices. 

P

