Volume 04 | April 23 2020
STAYING SOCIAL AT A DISTANCE
 People are social beings; it’s a mistake to think that most people prefer the solitary life when we are most comfortable when we’re connected. Social connection strengthens our immune system, helping us recover from disease faster, and proven to improve physical health and psychological well-being.
Crescent strives to continue to be a company connected, we want to share stories, activities, and insights to stretch our minds further, communicate stronger, and remain an active member of our community. Crescent, keeping us social while practicing social distancing.  
26 Things to Do With Friends While Social Distancing Beyond 'Catching Up'
Time to get creative with all those FaceTime calls.
It looks like social distancing isn’t going away any time soon. While this is good for our physical health and strained healthcare system, it can make you desperate for a daily dose of social connections, or anyone who is feeling really lonely during quarantine. To get through this, we’re going to have to get creative!

With that in mind, I put together a mega list of ways to connect right now—to keep boredom and isolation at bay, and to bring levity and exuberance to an incredibly dark time. Unless otherwise specified, all the activities on this list are intended to be done virtually via your video call software of choice—FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Slack, Skype, Signal, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.

By the way, if any of these hangouts go well, consider making them recurring events. Not only is it logistically easier, but it’s also a great way to combat loneliness and general COVID despair. When you’re feeling lonely and sad, having social engagements to look forward to helps a  lot , and interacting with people regularly is a really good way to make friends (or deepen existing relationships). This week my family and I hosted a friendly Family Feud game, everyone enjoyed their time as we connected via Facetime, we had plenty of laughs and everyone enjoys friendly competition.
  • Start a good old-fashioned book club.
  • Get a pen pal! There are many army veterans, elderly in nursing homes who need a friend, this is rewarding for both parties! Check out Worldwide Snail Mail Pen PalsPenPal WorldLetters to Elders, and Write a Prisoner to find someone to connect with.)
  • Get creative with your regular friend group check-ins. The Life team at VICE has been doing a daily laugh check (where everyone shares what’s funny to them right now)
  • Use Netflixparty to watch movies or shows together.
  • Chat and play simple party games remotely using Houseparty.
  • Try Instagram’s new ‘co-watching’ feature or try Squad, an app that lets you screenshare whatever is on your phone.
  • Make a TikTok account if you haven’t already (you can keep it private!), and ask your friends to do so as well—it’s a really fun and easy way to make and share weird stuff!
  • Join choreographer Ryan Heffington’s Instagram Live dance parties.
  • Host your own dance party with friends by video chat.
  • Challenge a friend or family member to a dance contest; record a video of yourself doing a dance, then send it to them to replicate and send video back to you.
  • Host your own trivia night with you and your family and friends!
  • Playstation multi-player game night, connect with friends and challenge each other to a game- right now we are playing Modern Warefare.
  • “Tour” a museum (like MoMaTate Britain, or the Musée d’Orsay) together from home while sharing your screen.
  • Plan an activity/hangout inspired by your favorite reality competition shows (think: Bake-OffProject RunwayChopped). I have to show you our Master Chef competition!
  • Start a recipe club where everyone utilizes the same ingredient (probably beans) or cooks the same recipe and then shares photos and/or eats together. I am sure you have some great family recipes you can share!
Have fun and share what you have done during this time!
  • Invite your friend group to start creating lo-fi vlogs for each other. (Think: skincare routine, “get ready with me,” house tour, etc.)
  • Arrange a knitting circle and donate blankets and etc to your local nursing home.
  • Try Marco Polo, a surprisingly charming asynchronous video chat app that is far better than Facebook or Instagram for video DMs. (It’s a particularly good one for families!)
  • Do an art challenge where everyone creates a drawing or painting inspired by the same topic and then shows it off. (The topic can be silly and the art definitely does not need to be good.)
  • Get your friend group to start sending weekly email “newsletters” to each other. (Keep it simple/doable with a format like “Things I read, watched, listened to, ate, laughed about, photographed, and loved” and bulleted lists.)
  • Host a Karaoke competition with your friends, there are many online applications that will allow you to connect with your family and friends like Karafun
  • Video chat with a friend while you both meal prep for the week ahead.
  • Start a Slack or email listserv with your neighbors.
  • Invite folks to join you in a daily photo challenge for the next two weeks. (There are tons of super simple prompts–like this—on Pinterest.)
  • FaceTime with a friend while you do an at-home pilates or workout session together. My sister and I are connecting on our treadmill workouts- Jillian Michaels is a hard core coach!
  • Pray, meditate and get back in touch with your spiritual side. There is nothing like connection and clarity during this time.
INTERNET OF THINGS
Stretch Your Health and Wellness Budget While you’re safe at home, why not use this time to focus on improving your personal health?

Your Crescent Benefit Hub portal provides you a variety of exclusive discounted health and wellness products and services that can help improve your health or the health of others in your family.
Here’s a sampling of offers available to you at home with just a few clicks:
• Nutrition Plans – Nutrisystem
• In-Home Workout – BeachBody
• Wellness Supplements – GNC
• Virtual Medical Service - Call A Doctor Plus
• Medical Supplies - FSA Store
• Grocery Delivery – Shipt
Get healthier and save while you do it.

Access Code: JD8157
*must be a Crescent fulltime or parttime person to qualify.
We may not be able to attend a basketball game this season, but we can surely pretend. If you haven’t stumbled upon this internet craze called “quarantine house” here is your chance. Let’s play! Which house you would want to ride out the quarantine with, based on the athletes, coaches, and sports personalities already living there.
YOU CAN ONLY PICK ONE- CHOOSE WISELY! (Teams created by NBAFORCE)