Apple Tree Fun & Learning for Kids
Kindness Matters! Help make the world a better place.
SPECIAL THANKS TO Yad Ezra for this month’s activities and their important work in helping address food insecurity in our community.
Apple Tree Fun & Learning for Kids Apple Tree December 30, 2021, Issue 7
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Kids in Action
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Helping Out at Yad Ezra
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Working Together
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Make a Tzedakah Box
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Get Ready ... Draw!
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More Ways to Help
On the Cover: Sunny Shanker and her grandma, Myrna Shanker Apple Tree is compiled and edited by Karen Schwartz.
THE DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS 2
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DECEMBER 30 • 2021
Kids in Action I
t’s a great time of year for giving to other people. Think of all the nice Chanukah gifts you’ve received, and the fun you’ve had celebrating. Wouldn’t it be great to share some of that love with other people, too? Families just like yours spend time, energy and money to make other people’s lives happier. Even the smallest act of kindness is meaningful. We use the word chesed in Judaism to talk about these kind acts and tzedakah to talk about donating money to people in need. Bonus phrase: hakrat hatov. It’s Hebrew for “recognizing the good,” which encourages us to practice gratitude. Sunny Shanker, 10, mentors other kids at school, volunteers with kosher food pantry Yad Ezra and donates to March of Dimes. During the pandemic, she made bracelets and finger puppets for first responders. Last month, she spent a Sunday with her grandma, Myrna Shanker, packing food at Temple Israel for Yad Ezra’s clients. Her family values being thoughtful and generous to others, her mom, Wendy, explains. Sunny says she sees it as a way to help the world. “It felt pretty good to volunteer,” she says. “It is really fun, and it helps people that need help.”
Did You Know?
Y
ad Ezra is a food pantry that has been providing supplemental food to families since it opened in 1990. In Michigan today, one out of every 8 people faces hunger. Yad Ezra distributes food to 1,200 households a month, which is about 2,700 people. Those foods include chicken, beef, turkey, fish, fruits and vegetables, grains and beans, rice, pasta, soup, milk, eggs, butter, oatmeal, cereal, bread and more. Yad Ezra distributes 1 million pounds of food a year, equal to some 830,000 meals.
Isaac, Eli and Olive Adler
Isaac
Eli
Olive
Helping Out at Yad Ezra
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saac, Eli and Olive Adler spent Sunday mornings this past fall volunteering at Yad Ezra’s Giving Gardens. The Birmingham-based trio went with their parents, Nicole and Matthew Adler, as the boys prepared for their bar mitzvahs. They helped harvest, clean and package vegetables, including kale, beets, chard, cherry tomatoes and more. And they plan to return next year to help again.
Olive
What was your favorite part? I get to water the trees that are about to grow, and packaging the lettuce. Why is it important? So other people can have food that they need. Do you want to volunteer other places, too? Yeah! Why? To help more people!
Eli
What do you like about volunteering? I like feeling that I’m doing something to help other people. I thought it was pretty cool to be cleaning and packaging and picking foods that were going to go out to people that needed the food to eat. What was the most memorable moment? Probably after we had done an hour and a half of cleaning and packaging, and we were counting up all the things we did. We had a large number of lettuce bags that were all cleaned and packaged. It was a big sense of accomplishment. What would you tell other kids about volunteering? I would say you might be nervous on the first day, but the second day, you’ll go back and be a lot more sure, and the third day you’ll be more sure, and you’ll be helping people, and it’s a good feeling. DECEMBER 30 • 2021
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Working Together T
he Riggs family – Rebecca and Scott, with kids Lucas, 11, Elise, 9, and Adelaide, 6 – has been volunteering with Yad Ezra since the kids were little. They’re not Jewish, but working with the organization has given them a respect for the Jewish faith and tradition, Rebecca says. Her kids have also gained the understanding that although people have differences and different beliefs, they can all work together to help irradicate food scarcity. Now it’s your turn. Go make the world a better place!
Kids Can Help!
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DECEMBER 30 • 2021
Lucas, 11, likes doing something to help the world. His favorite food to harvest is tomatoes. “We volunteer in the gardens,” he says. “We go there on Sundays and help plant, harvest and do things like that. I like helping gardening, and I also like all the people who are there.”
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ids can volunteer in Yad Ezra’s Giving Gardens with their families and give tzedakah. Volunteer Orly Morganstein gives money to Yad Ezra at Hillel Day School.
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thejewishnews.com/subscription DECEMBER 30 • 2021
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Make a Tzedakah Box D
o you know what tzedakah is all about? Tzedakah is a Hebrew word we use to talk about our responsibility to help others. It translates to “justice” or “righteousness.” When we talk about tzedakah, we’re talking about an important Jewish idea that teaches us to share what we have with others. It’s a mitzvah. Giving money is one form of tzedakah. It’s also a way to help organizations like Yad Ezra in their mission. Make your own tzedakah box and talk with your family about an organization you might want to support. Preschoolers at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield take part in a tashlich ritual at the temple’s pond.
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DECEMBER 30 • 2021
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What You’ll Need
Empty tissue box (square is ideal)
Glue
Ruler
Construction paper
Crayons
Markers
Scissors
Stickers
Measure the sides of your tissue box and cut down the construction paper accordingly. Glue the construction paper to the sides of the box. (Don’t cover the opening on top.) Decorate the construction paper however you like.
Cut it out and sendfor it to Yad Ezra.citizen We willclients. put it in with the groceries our senior for our senior citizen clients.
Please mail this to: Yad Ezra | 2850 W. Eleven Mile Rd. | Berkley, MI 48072
Get ready … get set … draw!
Please mail this to: Yad Ezra | 2850 W. Eleven Mile Rd. | Berkley, MI 48072 Make something special. Grab your favorite crayons, markers or colored pencils, and put a smile on a senior’s face. Don’t forget to mail it in when you’re done. Make a picture that Bubbie or Zayde would like to receive during these cold winter days. Cut it out and send it to Yad Ezra. We will put it in with the groceries for our senior citizen clients. Please mail this to: Yad Ezra | 2850 W. 11 Mile Road | Berkley, MI 48072
COLORING PAGE COURTESY OF YAD EZRA.
DECEMBER 30 • 2021
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MORE WAYS TO HELP!
NO SCHOOL MLK DAY? Grab your family and go pack supplies to support Vernor Elementary School students and families. It’s happening Jan. 17 at Shaarey Zedek, 10:30-noon. Jfamily, The Well and Congregation Shaarey Zedek are hosting the morning of service to honor civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who worked to make a more inclusive and just society. BONUS: Sledding (weather permitting) and snacks! FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO: https://www.shaareyzedek.org/events/ martin-luther-king-jr-day-of-service/