OUR COMMUNITY

O

n Nov. 24, all around Metro
Detroit, on-duty police officers
happily dug into a complete
Thanksgiving dinner, compliments of the
Jewish community.
This initiative, known as Feed the
Force, was started by Noach Klein in
2018. For the first two years, together
with a few local families, he purchased
a dinner from Kravings and delivered it
to the police departments in Oak Park
and Southfield. As word spread about the
program, more families wanted to be part
of it.
In 2020, Klein started a GoFundMe
campaign, and the entire Jewish
community eagerly climbed aboard. This
year, more than 110 people donated a
whopping $5,294, enough to cover dinner
for the combined 120+ officers on duty
on Thanksgiving in Oak Park, Southfield,
Berkley, Lathrup Village, Huntington
Woods, West Bloomfield, Farmington
Hills and Bloomfield Township.
The mouthwatering menu, provided
by Chef Cari for the past three years,
included an oven-roasted carved
turkey with traditional turkey gravy,
cranberry sauce, slow cooked brisket
with mushrooms, a savory challah
stuffing, whipped potatoes, a sweet
potato casserole with marshmallows,
garlic green beans, fire roasted corn and
hearts of palm salad, soft baked dinner
rolls, pumpkin pie with whipped topping
and apple crumble pie. Apple cider was
purchased from Franklin Cider Mill,
and they generously threw in 10 dozen
free donuts — and everyone knows how
police officers feel about donuts!

This year, there was so much food, it
didn’t fit into people’s cars, so Chef Cari
lent her catering truck to get it all to the
police departments. Ensuring that each
department would get hot food at dinner
time was down to an almost military-like
organization. The most efficient route
was mapped out in advance; still, it took
about 3.5 hours until the job was done.
In line with the purpose of the holiday,
appreciation was the order of the day.
Dinner wasn’t just dumped on the tables.
A team of local families turned up at each
station, carefully laid out tablecloths,
runners, centerpieces and a laminated
card expressing thanks to these on-duty
officers who were away from their
families on a holiday in order to serve the
community.
Two years ago, Ethan Gross bought
the program to the attention of Rabbi
Shneur Silberberg of Bais Chabad of West
Bloomfield and asked him to get their
community involved; that was when the
West Bloomfield police began receiving
their annual Thanksgiving dinner.
“I was excited about this idea because
it’s such a great opportunity to give back
to those who help protect us,” Rabbi
Silberberg said.
Silberberg shared that a suspicious-
looking fellow recently turned up at Bais
Chabad on a Saturday night and the West
Bloomfield police didn’t rest until they
tracked down the person and determined
that he was not a threat.
“We’re a very visible community, with
lots of young families who walk to shul
on Shabbos,” Silberberg said. “It’s an
excellent idea to show appreciation to

TOP: The Thanksgiving table was set with
care. MIDDLE: West Bloomfield officers
get ready to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.
BOTTOM: Rachaeli Muller, Claire Baum, Jack
Baum, Youssef Tishbi, Noach Miller (behind
Youssef) and Rabbi Muller. Boys in front are
Daniel Miller, Ariel Miller (behind Daniel) and
Yedidya Muller. They pose with members of
the Bloomfield Township Police Department.

The Jewish community teams up to feed
on-duty officers on Thanksgiving.
Feed the Force

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

24 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022