Protecting the Young
Federation, JARC hold vaccine clinic for teens. DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
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LEFT: A student from Chabad’s boys school receives the first dose of the vaccine. BELOW: Teenager Ivy Findling getting the first dose of the vaccine.
DANNY SCHWARTZ
he Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and JARC held a vaccine clinic at the Federation building on Thursday, May 13. The clinic took place the day after federal regulators expanded authorization for the use of PfizerBioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine in children ages 12-15. The clinic was open to anybody but was aimed at 12-to-15-year-olds. JARC has been holding clinics, especially for the people they serve, since January. Jacob Allen, associate director of philanthropy for JARC, said Federation has been gracious in letting them use their space. “As soon as we were done with all of our persons served and staff, we said, ‘Hey, we’re really good at this. Why don’t we keep it going?’” Allen said. “So, we partnered with Federation and Oakland County and a bunch of other organizations to allow us to keep going and, every couple weeks, we have about 500 people.” The clinic was held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Steven Ingber, Federation’s CEO, said there were people waiting 30 minutes before the clinic started. “It feels like you’re a part of the solution now,” Ingber
DANNY SCHW ARTZ
said. “We’re not going to get through this without this. We’re not medical professionals, so this is our way of helping the system get better.” Allen added, “Both Federation and JARC, we like to say when we see a problem, we try and fix it. This is our way of doing our best to get through this.” Both Ingber and Allen noted many people are happy to get the vaccine through this kind of collaboration due to a familiar comfort the organizations provide, as opposed to going to a pharmacy or large football stadium. Organizations injecting the doses at the clinic included Tamarack Camps, namely Tamarack’s Camp Maas Health Director Jennifer Feinberg. Ivy Findling, a teenager receiving her first dose at the clinic, said the shot was “so easy.” Findling is grateful the organizations came together
to put the clinic on. “I think it’s amazing they’re helping make everything safe and go back to normal,” Findling said. The clinic offered the Pfizer vaccine, which means patients will return for their second dose on June 3. The collaboration continued on May 20 with another clinic, allowing teens and other at-risk individuals to get the vaccine if they couldn’t attend the week prior. Ingber said the clinic represented a sense of relief and happiness, and that the community is heading in a positive direction. “I’m not going to get on the battleship with the ‘mission accomplished’ flag, but I do think we are one step closer, and I’d like to think this partnership has made it one step closer to being done.”
The Importance of Jewish Museums is Keynote Topic at Historical Society Annual Meeting Jewish Historical Society of Michigan (JHSM) announced Patrick that its Annual Gallagher Meeting will feature Patrick Gallagher, president and founder of Gallagher & Associates. Gallagher will be speaking on “Why Jewish Museums Matter.” JHSM’s Annual Meeting takes place at 7 p.m. Monday, June 7, via Zoom. Members of the community are invited to attend this free event, during which JHSM will review the highlights of the past year, in addition to featuring Gallagher’s talk. “We are thrilled to have Patrick Gallagher speak,” said JHSM Executive Director Catherine Cangany. “Gallagher & Associates is an internationally recognized museum-planning and design firm. “Patrick himself is deeply knowledgeable and will give us an inside look at the firm’s recent work, including the new Beit Hatfutsot (Museum of the Jewish People) in Tel Aviv.” Register for the event at michjewishhistory.org/ calendar.
MAY 27 • 2021
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