 MAY 14 • 2020 | 27

S

ometimes plans change due 
to things out of our control. 
My name is Shayla Mostyn. 
I’
m a 10th grader at Frankel 
Jewish Academy and shlicha of 
my chapter Ruach BBG of BBYO. 
As shlicha, I am in charge of 
Jewish programming and com-
munity service for my chapter. 
After putting together ideas 
for upcoming events in the New 
Year 2020, it became harder and 
harder to keep or to plan for 
these events due to COVID-19. 
There was one planned event I 
couldn’
t let go of and wanted to 
see through. 
Back in September 2019, I 
saw a flyer for JARC with dates 
available. I did not waste any 
time. I immediately got in con-
tact with my chapter’
s president 
and worked out a date that would 
be best for us to plan an event. 
I then emailed Jessica Tierney, 

JARC’
s community engagement 
manager, that Ruach would like 
to volunteer for JARC bingo on 
April 21, 2020. For seven months 
I stayed in contact with Jessica, 
making sure that this event 
would go off without a hitch. 
I collected prizes and kept in 
contact with everyone, letting 
everyone know this event wasn’
t 
going to be cancelled. I invited 
Jessica to one of our chapter 
meetings to talk about what to 
expect and how we could make 
this event enjoyable for JARC 
residents. 
As the date was getting clos-
er and COVID-19 was putting 
everyone in quarantine, I asked 
Jessica if our bingo event was 
cancelled. Luckily, she said it 
wasn’
t, but if we wanted it to 
continue, we needed to figure 
out how to make it work. I got to 
talking with my chapter, bounc-

ing ideas off them and soon we 
figured out our plan. 
On April 21, we had a virtual 
JARC Bingo over GoToMeeting, 
where Ruach volunteers wrote 
down and called out a letter and 
number, then showed it to the 
camera for the residents to see 
and mark down. To our surprise, 
we had 14 homes and a ton of 
people playing. During that 
hour, we played three games, and 
nobody wanted it to end!
In this time of isolation where 
our only gatherings and events 
are done virtually or 6 feet apart, 
we can still smile, laugh and 
enjoy an evening together. 
I’
m glad that all the hard work 

Jessica and I did to make sure 
this wasn’
t postponed or worse, 
cancelled, turned out perfectly. 
The winners had their prizes 
dropped off at their homes, and 
we all closed the event feeling a 
sense of pride. Being able to do 
community events, like Bingo or 
a simple game night with family 
and friends, help keeps us con-
nected. 
As blogger Many Hale said, 
“To make a difference in some-
one’
s life, you don’
t have to be 
brilliant, rich, beautiful or perfect. 
You just have to care.
” 

To plan future events with JARC, 
contact Jessicatierney@Jarc.org.

O

ver the past six weeks, 
Bloomfield resident 
Allison Kaplan has 
grown her “Zoom Crew” work-
out sessions from 10 to more 
than 659 subscribers. The work-
outs not only provide partici-
pants with an outlet to release 
stress and anxiety, but also give 
a new sense of community. 
Kaplan started teaching fit-
ness classes when she was 22 

and has been a fitness instructor 
for more than 40 years. She has 
taught at the Jewish Community 
Center and at different gyms 
around Metro Detroit. 
“I learned early on that it 
wasn’
t just about exercise and 
teaching people how to move 
their bodies and get strong,” 
Kaplan said. “It became more 
evident to me as I got older that 
I was developing these wonder-

ful relationships with people, 
especially women.” 
The idea to start these Zoom 
workouts came to Kaplan 
when COVID-19 began to hit 
Michigan. Due to her compro-
mised immune system, Kaplan 
was one of the first instructors 
sent home from the fitness clubs 
she was teaching at. 
“I knew I was going to miss 
all my friends and the people 
I exercised with. I knew I had 
to do something,” Kaplan said. 
“I didn’
t want to workout by 
myself because it is so much 
better feeding off each other’
s 
energies.” 
Kaplan enlisted the help of 
her two lifelong friends, Marni 
Stone and Nancy Powell, to help 
her grow the “Zoom Crew” and 
teach some classes. Stone and 
Powell have also been fitness 
instructors for more than 40 
years. 
Once she began the workouts, 
she decided to send out the 
Zoom link to a couple of her 
close friends and students that 

she knew would want to par-
ticipate. From there, her classes 
grew tremendously from just 10 
people to over 659 subscribers, 
some from different states. 
Kaplan’
s “Zoom Crew” simply 
spread from word of mouth. 
People interested in joining 
this workout crew simply send 
Kaplan an email (askaplanpt@
gmail.com) to get put on her 
subscriber list so they can 
receive each day’
s workout 
schedules. Participants can 
also directly sign up using a 
MailChimp form. 
Her classes are completely 
free and there is also no fee to 
join. Kaplan offers anywhere 
from 12-15 classes a week, giv-
ing options for participants to 
choose from morning, mid-day 
or late afternoon classes. 
Classes vary from strength, 
pilates, cardio, yoga, barre 
fusion, dance classes and much 
more. Most classes last around 
30 minutes, and Kaplan makes 
sure that all classes appeal to her 
crew members. 

Jews in the D

Zoom Crew

Building community through 
Zoom workouts.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

Game Night!

Local BBYO organizes a virtual Bingo 
night for JARC residents.

SHAYLA MOSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

