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