36 | OCTOBER 13 • 2022
faces&places
Jewish Family Service
employees attended a staff
appreciation event with
America’s greatest pastime at
Comerica Park on Wednesday,
Sept. 14.
The event was preceded by
a staff lunch at both the Oak
Park and West Bloomfield
offices and was an opportunity
for people to connect with
colleagues they don’t interact
with on a regular basis.
“People enjoyed hanging out,
laughing, learning more about
each other and not feeling like
they had to do something,”
said Yuliya Gaydayenko, chief
program officer, older adults.
“It was a great mental health
day even for those of us who
don’t know anything about
baseball.”
Office Manager Al Brooks
said, “
Although the Tigers lost,
it was a win for me to spend
time with my JFS team outside
the office.”
CEO Perry Ohren added,
“It’s a joy for me to work with
such committed people at JFS.
We each have 125+ colleagues
who every day wake up to be
part of a team that takes care of
others. The Tigers could learn
from the strong team at JFS!”
Samantha Vine and Amy
Newman
Perry Ohren, Emily Gordon, Yuliya
Gaydayenko and Zach Woodby
Kerri Lanoue, Zach Woodby, Al Brooks and Stephanie Glanton
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF JFS
JFS Heads to the
Ballpark
JARC Picnic in the Park took
place outdoors the evening of
Aug. 27 at Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township, provid-
ing people with developmental
disabilities who are served by
JARC with the opportunity to
play exercise ball drums with
Drums Alive and enjoy a deli-
cious kosher dinner outside.
The event was sponsored
by a generous donor of JARC.
Guests were led through dif-
ferent sensory-friendly drum-
ming techniques by a Drums
Alive instructor, and all who
participated learned how to
drum along to music.
Drums Alive helps people
of all ages and abilities by
combining the use of senso-
ry/motor reflexes with the
brain-affected benefits of
music and rhythm. Along
with this activity, JARC guests
enjoyed a catered kosher pic-
nic dinner of various wraps,
chips and cookies.
The event was attended by
80 people JARC serves, who
enjoyed the high-energy yet
sensory-friendly drumming
opportunity and the differ-
ent options to participate or
observe, depending upon their
comfort level.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JARC
JARC Picnic in
the Park
Renee, who is served
by JARC, enjoyed the
drumming event.
Jacob, a person
served by JARC, had
fun participating.
Everyone enjoyed participating
with sensory-friendly exercise
balls that are fitted to be drums.