18 | JULY 30 • 2020 

Jenny Schwartz, 
her husband, 
Brian, and her 
kids Eli, Jonah 
and Kayla

JENNY SCHWARTZ

Mom Michigan also has ideas from par-
ents for easy, affordable and fun at-home 
crafts and projects. Schwartz tie-dyed 
T-shirts with her kids after being inspired 
by a tie-dying-made-easy post by Gardin. 
Hunny Khodorkovsky of Southfield is 
naturally crafty and has posted a few of 
the craft projects she’
s done with her kids, 
Alexander, 12, Olivia, 9, Alliyah, 8, and 
Judah, 6. During one forest hike, her kids 
bought axes, chopped down branches, 
shaved the bark and varnished, stained 
and sandpapered them to create their own 
impressive hiking sticks. 
Her friend, Joey Roberts, who was 
widowed over three years ago, got two 
therapy dogs when his wife was sick with 
cancer, and he always brings them over 
to play with the Khodorkovsky kids. 
Roberts is also a fourth-generation furrier 
(retailer of furs) who does woodworking, 
and he started giving the family craft 
ideas and helping them with different fun 
projects, which Khodorkovsky in turn 

shares with the group. With his help, the 
Khodorkovsky kids have made fur key-
chains and are working on a fur bomber 
jacket for their mom, as well as fur scarves 
and earmuffs. 
Khodorkovsky has also been visit-
ing new locations with her kids. Water 
Warrior Island in Lake Orion, a floating 
island on a lake, was a huge hit with her 
family. “Every day is a new adventure, 
thanks to this page,” Khodorkovsky said. 
As admins, Gotlib and Gardin constant-
ly receive positive feedback and messages 
about how the page alleviated so much 
anxiety for what could have been a stress-
ful summer. “We’
re just giving each other 
tips and ideas; that’
s all,” Gotlib said. “The 
main point is to get through this together.”
Camp Mom Michigan has even man-
aged to unearth a small silver lining in 
the midst of the pandemic. Gotlib said, 
“Michigan is such a beautiful state with 
so many magnificent places to hike and 
explore that were in our backyard all 

along, but it took a pandemic to make us 
go out and find them.”
Gardin, too, has been enjoying this 
unique opportunity with her kids and 
hopes they’
ll have many positive memo-
ries. At the very least, the 3,000+ pictures 
she’
s taken in the last few months of their 
hikes and day trips should help them 
remember the good times.
 “My parents have been begging me to 
come back to Canada, but I keep telling 
them that we are managing just fine,” 
Gardin said. “I never realized how beauti-
ful Michigan is and wouldn’
t have had the 
opportunity to explore it the way I have 
been otherwise. A different summer than 
we had planned, but a special one none-
theless.” 

continued from page 16

“Michigan is such a beautiful state with so 
many magnifi
 cent places to hike and explore 
that were in our backyard all along, but it took 
a pandemic to make us go out and fi
 nd them.”

— SHIRLI GOTLIB

Jews in the D
cover story

HUNNY KHODORKOVSKY

Hunny Khodorkovsky 
and kids, Alexander, 
Olivia, Alliyah and 
Judah, 6

The Khodorkovsky 
kids,and their 
friends with Joey 
Roberts