Marlene and Howard Kaplan

My grandparents, Marlene and Howard Kaplan, are my heroes. They are both alive today and are in their sixties. They are both around six feet tall. Both have grayish hair. Howard also has diabetes. They have four children and many more grandchildren, including me. They live in Illinois USA. Both of them are very kind and loving and are always ready to help others.

I admire Marlene and Howard because they have both been presidents of North West Suburban Zionist Synagogue. During that time they have organized many charity funds and raised money to give to the Jewish United Fund. Marlene has also helped at a little Hadassah shop (run by a group of women who try to help people in many ways such as medical help, charity, etc.) that sells almost everything from clothing to silverware to books at a low price to people who have a low income. Marlene was also president of Hadassah during the time when Hadassah was making a big medical center in Israel that she contributed to. That hospital is very important because of the war in Southern Lebanon. Howard works as a lawyer and owns his own law firm with one of his sons and one of his daughters. He also builds nursing homes for older people who don't have that much money and can't support themselves.

My grandparents have helped and changed my life in many ways. First, without them I would not be alive today because I am their grandchild. Also, because of them, I try and help to make the world a more healthy and peaceful place. Last year was my Bar Mitzvah; my mom and I were having trouble finding a cool invitation. Then I thought, why not give five dollars to Hadassah for every person or family that comes to the party? Instead of getting a certificate back, I asked “Mashie” (the name I call Marlene because I couldn't pronounce Marlene when I was young) to make the certificates into invitations, so we really gave out certificates with the date, time, and place of my Bar Mitzvah on them. In that way I helped Hadassah too. My grandparents are really my heroes; they have done so much to help others.