OUR COMMUNITY
Federation CEO Steven Ingber announced the appreciation gift to the Hillel Day School staff.
A Token of Their Appreciation Davidson Foundation and JFMD give $200 gift cards to day school teachers and staff. DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
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he Davidson Foundation recently provided the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit with a grant to provide each Jewish educational staff member in the community with a “welcome back” brunch and a $200 gift card, as a thank you for their efforts during the pandemic. Plans for the initiative have been worked on since before the summer, and all staff at the local day schools, including teachers, administrative staff, custodial staff, security and more received the gift cards.
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OCTOBER 7 • 2021
“Over the last year and a half, our teachers have been so resilient and courageous in the face of the pandemic,” said Steven Ingber, Federation CEO. “Many, in fact, put the wellbeing of our children above their own. We owe everyone who works in our schools an immense debt of gratitude and the teacher appreciation initiative was just one small way for us to say thank you. “We also want to thank the William Davidson Foundation for conceiving of the initiative and providing the funding to make it happen,” Ingber continued.
“This is just another example of the foundation’s immense generosity and passion for Jewish education and the Jewish educators and support staff in our community.” The brunch and gift cards were a surprise, presented to the staff during professional development meetings the week before students returned to school. The response has been extraordinary. The Davidson Foundation’s Ethan Davidson, son of Bill Davidson, said the initiative is reflective of his father’s focus.
“Jewish education is the core of what my dad was interested in philanthropically, and we’ve taken his interests to guide us with what we do for the Foundation,” Davidson said. “It’s right at the heart of what we do.” Davidson said he’s gotten calls from all the different schools, with people reaching out and expressing their appreciation. Some people were even in tears. “I think our day school ecosystem has done a spectacular job managing this crisis. The leadership has been so on top of it,” Davidson said. “We just wanted to help people and show teachers in some small way we value and appreciate them and that the Jewish community is really built on our educators.” TOTAL SURPRISE Jessica Shindler, a secondgrade general studies teacher at Hillel, said it was mentioned during the brunch that there would be a $200 gift card for everyone. “I think everyone’s reaction in the room was just that they were shocked,” Shindler said. “It’s one thing to be told we’re appreciated, but for them to go out of their way for such a generous sentiment for everyone who has been working in the building is so huge. It’s something teachers are still talking about and still appreciating.” Shindler knows how
