By Skip Sheffield
BOCA RATON — Josh Lukes smiles and says he is just carrying on a family tradition.
This is quite true, but Lukes is no ordinary 16-year-old. On Monday, Jan. 31, he will be honored at the annual South Florida Luncheon hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum of Washington, D.C. at Boca West Country Club.
Lukes headed a team of volunteers that raised more than $2,500 for the museum this past Thanksgiving with a day of football at Patch Reef Park.
“About 150 people participated, so they all deserve credit,” said Lukes modestly. “My dad started a family tradition of raising money for charities every year when I was just a little kid. I took over six years ago. My mother and sister help.”
Josh’s great-uncle, Henry Redlich, seated, is a Holocaust survivor. He is shown with other relatives at the Thanksgiving football game.
Lukes is a junior at St. Andrew’s School in the International Baccalaureate program instituted this year. One of the requirements of the IB program is that each student undertake a two-year research project and submit a paper.
Lukes chose the doomed MS St. Louis, a ship which disembarked from Hamburg, Germany in 1939 with 937 German Jews aboard, bound for Havana, Cuba and what was thought a safe haven. The voyage proved to be a cruel Nazi propaganda hoax when Cuba refused entry of the refugees, followed by the USA. The ship was forced to return to Europe, where hundreds of the passengers were killed. Ultimately only about 450 survived.
“I have a great-uncle, Henry Redlich, who is a Holocaust survivor,” Lukes reveals. “He lives here in West Boca, and he has taught me a lot about the Holocaust.”
Lukes is just one of several honored guests at the luncheon, hosted by Arlene Perlman and Lynn Sexton of Boca Raton. Honorary chair is Arlene Herson, who chaired last year’s luncheon and is the museum’s National Chair of the Legacy of Light Society.
Florida State Senator Maria Sachs, Peter S. Sachs and Elaine and Bernard Roberts are luncheon vice chairs, and for the second year in a row WPTV Channel 5 newscaster Jim Sackett is master of ceremonies. The keynote address will be given by Hannah Rosenthal, U.S. State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.
“I got a call from Jack Karako, who invited me to the luncheon,” recounts Lukes. “He is director of the Southeast Regional Officer of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which is based here in Boca Raton. I told him it would be an honor to be there.”
Josh Lukes will attend with his great-uncle. He and his family intend to host another Thanksgiving charity event in 2011. The recipient of donations will again be the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
For more information, call 561-995-6773 or go to www.ushmm.org.