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Thursday, October 12, 2006

Maimonides' parent seeks Makeover for school

By DEBORAH MOON

Whether through slow and steady fund-raising or by "winning the lottery" of getting an Extreme Makeover, Heidi Holmes is on a mission to help Chabad of Oregon rebuild their Jewish day school and to help people understand that the school is an open, welcoming place to experience Jewish traditions.

Holmes said she thinks many people in the community think of Chabad as men in black hats and women in long skirts. As a new parent at the school, she said she has learned that Maimonides Jewish Day School and the Aleph Bet Preschool cater to a very diverse group of families. THE SCHOOL'S DIVERSITY

Decidedly unorthodox in both observance and approach, Holmes, 33, said Jewish traditions rather than religion are important to her family. She attended Congregation Neveh Shalom's Foundation School and the Hillel Academy as a child. So when her son Ross started kindergarten, she wanted him to have the experience of a Jewish environment and small classes. This fall Ross began kindergarten at Maimonides.

Since both she and her husband work, Holmes said they are "looking to the teachers to give the little extra," and she has already seen that happening at Maimonides for students from families of all backgrounds.

"I show up (to drop off Ross) in my shorts and t-shirt and Devora (Wilhelm, director of the school), never says anything," said Holmes. "She tells me, 'I respect how you live your life, and you respect me.' That's the way the world should be. She said it in a nutshell."

While many Orthodox families send their children to Maimonides, Holmes said there are also many unaffiliated families or families affiliated with non-Orthodox congregations at the school. She said the school is accepting of all.

"They want people to be connected to the community," she said. "They want people to know about their traditions. … They are so about the children and the education. The students are our future."

Holmes said she is very impressed with the Wilhelm family. Rabbi Moshe and Devora Wilhelm came to Portland about 25 years ago to serve as Chabad emissaries to all Jews in Oregon. Holmes said she is amazed how many lives the Wilhelms have touched with a wide range of programs, classes and activities, including Maimonides.

"They are an amazing family; they have touched so many people," said Holmes.

So Holmes wants the family's dream of a new, bigger school to become reality.

Chabad of Oregon has plans to replace the two homes that now house the day school, preschool and some of Chabad's other programs, with a modern Northwest Campus for Jewish Life.

"My goal is to see my son in a new school building by his eighth-grade year," she said.

Holmes said she will help any way she can in the intervening years. She's already gotten a jumpstart on soliciting items for the school's annual auction, set for March 19, 2007. She said she is asking all the businesses that she and her mother have used in their gift shop, "Initially Yours," to donate something to the auction. THE MAKEOVER DREAM

But Holmes is also a dreamer and she's not content to just sit back and wait. She plans to give the school a chance at a new home much sooner than fund-raising alone could accomplish with a bid for a slot on Extreme Makeover.

"We are going for the winning lottery ticket," she said of the bid.

Holmes wants all community members whose lives have been touched by Chabad to nominate the group for a new building from "Extreme Makeover."

According to the ABC Web site, "each episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is self-contained and features a race against time on a project that would ordinarily take at least four months to achieve, involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to totally rebuild an entire house—every single room, plus the exterior and landscaping."

Holmes has printed one-page nomination forms from the ABC show's Web site. People can pick up and drop off the form at Initially Yours, 4818 S.W. Scholls Ferry Road. Forms are also available at the Albertson's at the corner of Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and Shattuck Road, and Images by Floom in Multnomah Village. She said she'd like to collect a box full of nominations to submit to the show.

"They've done pastor's homes and a firehouse in New Orleans," said Holmes. "The show is about people with an incredible story and who deserve it. I think people would agree the Wilhelms fit. … How can someone not want to speak about them?"

"Don't be lazy," she urged. "Take five minutes and put some thoughts down. Spend five minutes doing a mitzvah." THE PRIZES

To encourage people to fill out nomination forms in a timely manner, Holmes has solicited a host of prizes for a drawing. Winners will be drawn from nomination forms turned in by Nov. 15.

Prizes donated for the drawing include a $200 gift certificate for the Albertson's store at Shattuck Road; a $100 gift certificate to Initially Yours; carpet cleaning for a whole house from Astor Carpet Cleaning; a $300 house cleaning anywhere in Multnomah County by Maid Brigade; a piece of fine jewelry from charriol-usa.com, whose jewelry is sold at Sax Fifth Avenue in Portland; a Britax car seat valued at $275 from Segal's Baby News; a huge gift basket of baby items from Two's Company; a $200 art gift certificate from Images by Floom; and a $300 henna tattoo party from Zeba.

Information from the forms on how Chabad programs have impacted Oregonians also may be used in future school publicity or in a follow-up article.

For more information, or for other sites to pick up a nomination form, call Holmes at 503-292-1769.

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