November 2001
For more information, contact Jodee Fishman Raines, (248) 203-1487
The annual Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence was awarded to Kids Kicking Cancer by The Jewish Fund at its November 19, 2001 Annual Meeting. The Sosnick Award was established last year in memory of Mr. Sosnick, whose bold vision and leadership abilities helped lead to the creation of The Jewish Fund.
Once a year, an outstanding program that reflects the values and contributions of Robert Sosnick is selected to receive this award of excellence.
Kids Kicking Cancer was founded by Rabbi Elimelich Goldberg, a black belt in karate with a ten-year history of serving Jewish children suffering from terminal illnesses at various hospitals around the world.
The program works with local hospitals to help empower and heal young cancer patients.
One of the program’s ten basic principles comes from the martial arts: the strongest part of our being is our mind and soul. The program teaches the children how to use meditation to help them transcend the pain and fear that accompany the disease.
Jewish Fund support has helped expand the Kids Kicking Cancer program beyond the Jewish Community to serve children of all races and religions. The Jewish Fund has provided $150,000 to the program over the past three years. Kids Kicking Cancer currently is raising funds to meet a $25,000 Jewish Fund challenge grant.
Sixty-eight people from Jewish community agencies, the medical community and greater nonprofit community attended The Jewish Fund’s Annual Meeting, held at the Max Fisher Federation Building.
The Fund’s Annual Report was presented by Mark Schlussel, Chairman of The Jewish Fund. “Over 16,000 individuals, most of them older adults, received critical services with the support of $3.2 million in Jewish Fund grants in 2001,” Schlussel reported. “Helping our elderly age with dignity, and enabling individuals with special needs to participate in every- day community activities, are key goals of The Jewish Fund. Our lives are enriched by the diversity such individuals bring to our community.”
The Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence was presented to Kids Kicking Cancer by Jewish Fund Vice Chairman David Page and Board Member Karen Sosnick Schoenberg. Upon receiving the award, which was accompanied by a $25,000 check, Rabbi Goldberg noted, “the true recipients of this award are the children, and you, the community, that has helped make this program possible.” Larry Fleischman, M.D. president of Children’s Hospital of Michigan, a critical partner of Kids Kicking Cancer, also expressed his thanks to The Jewish Fund and Kids Kicking Cancer, noting, “More innovative approaches like this are needed to help us facilitate the healing process.”
The Jewish Fund was created in 1997 from proceeds of the sale of Sinai Hospital to the Detroit Medical Center and has since awarded over $15.5 million in grants to expand health and human services to residents of metropolitan Detroit. Among the recipients of grants from The Jewish Fund are programs that improve the quality of life for older adults and children with special needs, and that provide health supports for people of all ages.
For more information on Kids Kicking Cancer, call Rabbi Goldberg at 248-223-9123.