NGF News

Gaucher Disease Deli-thon a Great Success!
The effects of the Deli-thon are still on-going.

About 80 people attended the Deli-thon and all those attending emailed at least five of their friends to inform them about Gaucher Disease. Many greatly exceeded the five contacts and emailed most people in their computer address book. In some cases, this exceeded over a hundred people. All those contacted were also asked to pass-on the information.

The best news from the Deli-thon was the enthusiastic support from the delis. Owners and managers were asked to allow us to place show cards on all their tables for the day of the event. Virtually all delis approached, easily accepted the offer to participate, many with much enthusiasm. Jerry’s Famous Deli committed their entire chain. In one case, at Factor’s Deli, the manager thanked me for doing this work. I encountered two managers that told me the Gaucher runs in their families. The support allowed the Deli-thon to take place through-out Los Angeles. These Delis serve an average of approximately 2000 people per day. With the 14 delis who participated, (see below) approximately 28,000 people viewed the GD information show cards. In several cases the delis left the show cards up for more than a day. They are still up in a few of the restaurants. It would have been possible to include about another dozen delis, but we simply ran out of time.

Considerable effort was made to contact media, with PR releases, featuring the “World’ Largest Corned-Beef on Rye”, sent to all local outlets. KTlA (channel 5) planned on covering the event but were distracted by the local forest fires which are currently raging on the outskirts of L.A. Robert Kovacic of Knbc (channel 4 ) has shown interest in doing a future report, as well as William Lajeunesse, of Fox National News. The most enthusiastic support is from reporter Randy Paige of Kcal (Channel 9) who has assured me he will do a report once the fires subside.

A word about Ms. Avakemian. Heather tackled this project with samurai-like tenacity and focus. She put in long hours starting very early in the mornings, finishing late at night, all the while deporting herself with charm and enthusiasm. Most importantly, she always kept the focus to make sure the efforts would reach-out to as many people as possible. This included an unrelenting attack on the local broad-cast media (Who’s security measures have been raised to a paranoid state since 911), to insure that our promotional deli trays reached the decision makers in the newsroom. Also, Heather made an extra effort to insure the Show-cards made their way to the tables of the participating Delis and in most cases placed them personally. To those attending the event, she delivered an intelligent and coherent message. The event would not have been a success with out her.

The Deli-thon succeeded in several ways. The event spread awareness outside Jewish religious organizations, (The majority of Jewish people are not affiliated with a synagogue) as well as the general public. However, the good-will of the event also encouraged further participation from those religious and other organizations. The event served as focal point to make initial contact to the press. I am expecting some broadcast reports on GD and the awareness campaign in the very near future. The enthusiastic participation suggests that a National Deli-thon is possible. I am quite confident with the experience we gained we could have very effective campaign in all the major cities where there is a high Jewish population.

Best regards,

Michael G. Margolis

P.S. yes, the entire sandwich was eaten.

Participating Delis

Art's Deli, Studio City

Jerry’s Famous Deli, Studio City
Solly's Deli & Bakery, Sherman Oaks
Jerry’s Famous Deli, Encino
Jerry’s Famous Deli, Woodland Hills
Brent's Deli & Restaurant, Northridge
Weiler's Deli, West Hills
Abe's Deli & Family Restaurant, Northridge
Canter's Delicatessen, Los Angeles
Greenblatt’s, West Hollywood
Izzy's Deli, Santa Monica
Junior's Delicatessen, Los Angeles
Jerry’s Famous Deli, Westwood
Jerry’s Famous Deli, West Hollywood
Factor's Famous Deli, Los Angeles

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