Fred Zaidman: Feeding others is his emotional sustenance

“Can you get any breakfast burritos?”

 

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 homeless that The City School, a charter middle school, was sponsoring on Thanksgiving morning. On the day itself, Zaidman chatted with the guests and distributed Target gift cards and movie tickets that he had purchased with his own money. Afterward, he drove around the Fairfax Avenue/Venice Boulevard area seeking out homeless men and women and handing them hamburgers, which he had also bought — and, when those ran out, he gave each person a couple of dollars.

 

Zaidman, 60, a partner in a commercial lighting business and a property manager, began volunteering in earnest around 2000. He was driving from his home to that of his parents, Holocaust survivors whom he was caring for, and he stopped off at the Robertson Recreation Center to play basketball for some much-needed exercise. But he found no program there, only a few kids in tattered clothing doing a few drills. “I decided to do something about it,” he recalled. He raised $1,000 from area businesses, and he and the newly hired recreation center director purchased some new jerseys and shorts. Coaches and referees were recruited, and soon 40 to 50 underserved kids began showing up regularly for Saturday morning basketball games, as did Zaidman, who brought snacks and assisted. The program expanded when Zaidman contacted the Los Angeles Clippers, who launched a Junior Clippers program for 5- to 15-year-olds, which they continued for five years. Zaidman also sponsored kids for gymnastics classes, which he helped initiate, and piano classes. In 2002, Zaidman was named Los Angeles Volunteer of the Year for Council District 5. 

 

Zaidman remains active with the rec center. “It’s been the biggest blessing in my life,” he said. Over the years, he’s formed important relationships with the kids, advising them, pushing them to stay in school or pursue their talents, and even officiating at their weddings and, occasionally, funerals. “He’s always been there for them,” said Nicole Griffin, a former rec center director. “It’s genuine caring.”   

 

For five years, ending in 2009, Zaidman mentored members of the Hamilton High School football team. Since then, he’s been a supporter of the Santa Monica College football team, attending home games and encouraging the players. Before practices, whenever possible, he brings fruit, vegetables and bagels — donated or purchased — for the players. “A lot of these kids are going to school starving,” he said. 

 

Additionally, since 1999, Zaidman has donated platelets every two weeks at the Cedars-Sinai Blood Donor Services facility. He has bagged food at SOVA West since 2005 and is currently volunteering three days a week. He also assists his aunt, Miriam Ickowicz, a Holocaust survivor, and has adopted several other survivors who are like mishpachah, he said. He visits them regularly and takes them to doctor appointments and social activities.

 

Zaidman attributes his desire to help others to his survivor parents, Renate and Wolf Zaidman, who both died in 2012, and to his grandparents, aunts and uncle who perished in Auschwitz. “They are my inspiration,” he said.