DECEMBER 15 • 2022 | 59

After graduating high 
school, Perczyk visited rela-
tives in Michigan and decided 
to move to the Mitten State. 
California had grown increas-
ingly expensive for young 
adults, and she planned to go 
to school in Michigan and 
later move back to California.
However, life took a dif-
ferent turn. Perczyk met her 
now-husband, Jeffrey, and the 
two became extremely active 
at Chabad Detroit. One day, 
during a Shabbat dinner at the 
Chabad Detroit house, Jeffrey 
proposed.
“There was a table of 40 
to 50 people but no cameras 
around,
” Perczyk laughs. “So 
we have no evidence of that.
”
Eventually, the Perczyks 
were married by their long-
time friend and Chabad 
Detroit executive director 
Rabbi Yisrael Pinson. Then, 
after becoming pregnant with 
her first child, Sophia, Perczyk 
went into labor at a Chabad 
Detroit event.
“Every one of our big life 
cycle events has been in that 

house,
” she says. “I’ve watched 
my kids learn to walk, crawl, 
talk and run around in that 
house.
”

THE LIFE CYCLE MAGIC
Now, the Perczyks are parents 
to two children, Sophia and 
Zahava.
Like their own experience 
with the magic of lifecycle 
events, Perczyk continues to 
bring that same connection 
to others in the Metro Detroit 
Jewish community.
“My faith goes back into 
my business, and my business 
goes back into my faith,
” she 
explains. “Within Judaism, a 
lot of these life cycles are big 
deals and very spiritually con-
nected to Hashem.
”
A wedding day, she 
describes, is the most special 
life cycle of all — and one that 
she feels honored to contribute 
to and help make more beauti-
ful for people.
“We finally become whole 
in God’s image,
” Perczyk says 
of weddings. “That is when 
we’re the most godly.
” 

Danielle and Jeffrey 
Perczyk and children 
Sophia and Zahava

The Jewish Fund Awards New Grants 

At its November board and annual meetings, The Jewish Fund awarded 
over $1 million in new grants to support the health and well-being needs 
of Metro Detroiters. Grant recipients include Ahavas Chessed Bikur 
Cholim, Avalon Healing Center, Brilliant Detroit, Dor Hadash, Friendship 
Circle, Hillel Day School, HOPE Shelter, Jewish Community Center, 
Jewish Family Service and Jewish Senior Life.
The annual Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence was presented to 
FernCare Free Clinic of Ferndale, recognizing its impactful history of 
improving access to health care for the area’s under- and uninsured popu-
lation. The award includes a $25,000 grant.
Additionally, The Jewish Fund elected four new board members: Dr. 
Erika London Bocknek, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, 
Wayne State University; Sharlonda Buckman, Assistant Superintendent 
Detroit Public Schools Community District, Office of Family and 
Community Engagement; Dr. Justin Klamerus, E.V
.P/Chief Medical 
Officer, McLaren Health Care; and Monica Woodson, CEO Girl Scouts of 
Southeastern Michigan. 

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