Harriet Rechtman: Advocate for people with disabilities
“Life is like that. Every day is a new thing,” Harriet Rechtman said, dismissing any suggestion that the three decades she has spent as an advocate for people with intellectual and developmental...
View ArticleBen Schwartzman: Giving autistic kids a shot at a team sport
In early 2014, UCLA post-graduate education student Ben Schwartzman and his classmate and friend John Daniel were staring at their computer screens and robotically crunching numbers on Microsoft Excel...
View ArticleNira Sayegh: Lifelong love of Jewish education began in childhood
For most people, working full-time plus overtime hours as vice president of finance at a property management firm would be enough to stay busy.Related Entries July 20, 2016 A trip down memory lane with...
View ArticleJoseph Samuels: Exposing crime against Iraqi Jews
His voice cracking with emotion, his eyes welling with tears, Joseph Samuels, 84 and a retired Jewish real estate developer, recalled the pogrom’s angry Muslim mobs in Baghdad that his Iraqi family and...
View ArticleEllen Brooks: Lending a hand at Cedars-Sinai for 38 years
When Ellen Brooks retired in 1977 at the age of 34 from her job as a production assistant on the Warner Bros. lot, she was looking forward to spending some time traveling the country with her new...
View ArticleDave Bullock: Bringing cameras to Skid Row residents
Dave Bullock is a co-founder of the Skid Row Photography Club, which provides digital cameras to Los Angeles’ Skid Row residents — the club’s members — and through their pictures allows outsiders like...
View ArticleShmulie Hauptman: Hatzolah leader brings first aid to Jewish community — and...
On a rainy weekday in December, Shmulie Hauptman wore a reflective Hatzolah of Los Angeles jacket. Related Entries January 14, 2015 Letters to the editor: Mensches, Rabbi Toba August, OAN and more...
View ArticleFred Zaidman: Feeding others is his emotional sustenance
Fred Zaidman, who had recently added helping the homeless to his list of volunteer passions, went into action, soon securing a commitment from Bristol Farms for 75 burritos for a breakfast for the...
View ArticleStacy Dylan: This mom is rockin’ the cause for Crohn’s Disease
A couple of years after her son Lowell was born, he was having severe stomach pains, and Stacy Dylan knew it might be seriousRelated Entries July 26, 2016 This Jewish drummer, 24, is busking up the...
View ArticleMichael Ullman
On a recent weekday morning, Michael Ullman, 66, was busy packing bags of assorted produce at JFS SOVA Community Food and Resource Program in Van Nuys — carrots, potatoes, lettuce, onions,...
View ArticleLexie Dreyfuss
On a recent morning, Lexie Dreyfuss, an 18-year-old senior at La Cañada High School, was sitting at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club with Palani, her 20-month-old black Labrador obediently in tow....
View ArticleDr. Robert “Matt” Bernstein
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,” Maimonides wrote. “Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”Related Entries December 30, 2015 The Mensch List 2015 December 30, 2015 Janet...
View ArticleTodd Bird
In the 1990s, Todd Bird was a Hollywood nightlife mover and shaker and promoter. Related Entries December 30, 2015 The Mensch List 2015 December 30, 2015 Janet Diel December 30, 2015 Judy Mark December...
View ArticleRachel Sumekh
Rachel Sumekh remembers the moment when every expectation she had for herself as a “typical Persian girl,” as she put it, changed. Related Entries July 20, 2016 UCLA probe of former student leader...
View ArticleSteven Sunshine
Steven Sunshine, 55, has had his share of hardships, including undergoing a bone marrow transplant in 2006. When Sunshine’s sister was found to be a donor match, providing him with the needed marrow,...
View ArticleAlbert “Albie” Cohen
Eleven years ago, environmental attorney Albert “Albie” Cohen was representing about 200 people in a lawsuit, and after resolving the case and making all of the distributions, he had about $10,000...
View ArticleSarah Shapiro
Sarah Shapiro’s life as an entrepreneur and philanthropist started when she was 8 1/2 years old.Related Entries December 30, 2015 The Mensch List 2015 December 30, 2015 Janet Diel December 30, 2015...
View ArticleJudy Mark
Improving rights within the disabled community isn’t just a battle; it’s an out-and-out war, and activist Judy Mark is on the front lines. Related Entries December 30, 2015 The Mensch List 2015...
View ArticleJanet Diel
During a visit to a Burbank middle school some five years ago, Janet Diel simply couldn’t believe what she was hearing.Related Entries December 30, 2015 The Mensch List 2015 December 30, 2015 Judy Mark...
View ArticleThe Mensch List 2015
For our 11th annual mensch list, we once again invited your nominations of extraordinary volunteers in our community, and again the outpouring of suggestions of amazing people was overwhelming.Related...
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