Introduction to 2025 JOIN Intern Amanda

Hi, everyone! This is the first of many blogs through my time as the JOIN intern at Yad Ezra. My name is Amanda Horwitz, and I am a sophomore at the University of Michigan studying political science with minors in Judaic studies and gender, race and nation. When I am not at school, I live in Huntington Woods, with my family, which is a 5-minute drive from Yad Ezra (located on 11 mile). Despite being this close, I was unaware of what Yad Ezra did and who they served. My parents, who have lived in Oak Park and Huntington Woods for 50 + years, did not know much either, which surprised me. Before starting my internship at Yad Ezra, I thought it was a tiny office space where they took donations of food and other necessities and gave it to whoever needed help, and while this is true to some extent, it is only a tiny fraction of what Yad Ezra does.

Yad Ezra is Michigan’s only Kosher food pantry, and they serve Jewish people/families who need food support. Every Monday and Wednesday from 10 am – 12 pm, Thursday from 6 pm – 8 pm, and Sunday from 12 pm – 2 pm, Yad Ezra hosts food pick-ups called Serving Sessions. These sessions allow people who need food support and who are Jewish, work for a Jewish Agency, or live in Jewish housing, to receive the food they need. Since Yad Ezra is a supplemental food pantry, the people who come to these sessions can only do so every 4 weeks. However, if there is an emergency situation, anyone, no matter how they identify religiously, can receive food on a one-time basis. Now when it comes to how much food one can get, there is a point system. Each item of food is given a point value and when people come to get the food they are given a certain number of points depending on how many members they have in their family. For example, a family of three gets 110 points. Something cool about Yad Ezra is that they are a total choice food pantry which means that client families can choose the items that they want, as long as they all fit within the client’s point total. This allows clients to have more autonomy as well as giving them a chance to get food they would otherwise not be able to eat too. Additionally, a good amount of the clients immigrated to the US from Russia or Ukraine, and Yad Ezra works to have culturally relevant foods for them to choose from.

The first day of my internship gave me a lot of insight into the inner workings of Yad Ezra. One of the first things I did was get a tour of the building. From the outside on the 11 mile side, especially when driving 35 mp, it looks like a small office building with a greenhouse and garden, but there is so much more. There is the regular stuff you would find in an office space like a boardroom, kitchen, offices, etc., but the good stuff is in the back. When I got my tour Shane (the Communications and Development Manager) likes to call the moment when you see the warehouse/food pantry the “Willy Wonka Moment” which I certainly had. You would never know without going to the back, that there is a huge food pantry, it’s like an illusion. Along with the food pantry, there are 3 gardens and a greenhouse that I got to see, and they are impressive. There is a garden and a greenhouse right outside the building, but there are also two bigger gardens behind Our Lady of La Salette Church which have a ton of growing foods. I got to try the strawberries, and they were delicious (better than the ones from the grocery store). The food that is grown here gets distributed to clients like a Farmers Market. I was told that some clients line up hours before, so they get first dibs.

Now that I am a week into my internship, I can confidently say I know way more about Yad Ezra than I did a week ago, and I have had the best time learning and helping. I hope this short piece can help you learn more about Yad Ezra, and maybe even entice you to volunteer.