H eadlines
Friendships Continued from Page 7
know some of my friends back
at home also, which is really
cool,” Rosenbaum said.

They’ve never met in person,
but they hope to get together
when travel is safe again.

Others bonded
with people they met while helping
their communities. Eugene
Desyatnik, co-founder of Sew
Face Masks Philadelphia, made
several new friends through
the mutual aid organization.

He channeled his commu-
nity organizing background to
grow the group on a Facebook
page during the earlier days
of the pandemic, when face
masks were in short supply and
desperately needed by essential
workers. Founders organized mask-
making events, material
swaps and delivery routes over
Slack channels and Discord.

People from across the Greater
Philadelphia area joined,
putting Desyatnik in contact
with volunteers outside his own
neighborhood, Bella Vista.

The group had online
sew-ins, or “sew-a-longs”
where they chatted and made
masks together on Zoom.

Conversations eventually grew
Alicia Rosenbaum (top left) hosts a virtual birthday party.
beyond exchanging materials
and sewing patterns to touch
on people’s personal lives.

“Without these Facebook
groups, I don’t think I would
have met anybody over the
past year,” said Desyatnik, who
considers himself an introvert.

Local activity has slowed
now that the vaccine rollout is
underway, but Desyatnik and
other group members are now
collaborating with volunteers
across the country to send
masks to Native American
tribes hit hard by COVID-19.

Back at Temple, Slotkin also
became friends with people in
her residence hall, the people
she works with as a campus
tour guide and members of
the women’s fitness group. The
latter get together for outdoor
workouts and weekend social
events. The only place where she
feels connecting is more difficult
is in classes, which are mostly
remote. Virtual learning doesn’t
give her much opportunity to get
to know her classmates.

Still, she feels lucky that she
has had so many opportunities
to make new connections.

Photo by Alicia Rosenbaum
“Now, more so than
ever, is the time to just
reach out to people and
make the effort to put
yourself out there, even
if you’re nervous about
doing that,” she said.

“We’re all going through
this together.” l
spanzer@jewishexponent. com; 215-832-0729
Katie Low distributes
face masks made by Sew
Face Masks Philadelphia.

Courtesy of Eugene Desyatnik
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