Updates from Naples and Fort Myers BBYO

By Cayla Schreier, BBYO Southwest Coordinator

Six weeks into the 20242025 school year and the Naples BBYO teens were ready to celebrate the Jewish High Holy Days. We had nine teens attend the Naples Chabad Rosh Hashanah Shofar Blowing event on Thursday, Oct. 3 at Lowdermilk Beach. The teens heard the sounds of the shofar and ate some Rosh Hashanah goodies with the local Jewish community. One of our teen board members, Mimi Goldberg, led a meaningful conversation about Israel and the upcoming anniversary of the tragedies of Oct. 7. They drew the number 365 in the sand to commemorate those who lost their lives and for the hostages who still remain in captivity.

Our teens hosted another successful event, a pumpkin carving activity which took place at Emily’s house on Sunday, Oct. 27. Sixteen teens attended this event to celebrate autumn by carving pumpkins with fun designs. The teens were able to catch up after Hurricane Milton and the numerous Jewish holidays that took place in October.

Naples BBYO attended the Jewish Catholic Dialogue Kristallnacht Candle Lighting Ceremony at St. John’s in Naples on Sunday, Nov. 17. The teens also hosted a Friendsgiving Potluck on Friday, Nov. 22.

Upcoming events

Naples BBYO will be participating in BBYO’s Annual Giving Tuesday on Tuesday, Dec. 3. We would love for you to support the Naples BBYO chapter to ensure that there will always be a place in the local Naples community for Jewish teens to connect and feel supported.

Our chapter will also be hosting our own Shabbat dinner on Friday, Dec. 13, to take part in BBYO’s Global Shabbat. Global Shabbat is an international BBYO initiative to have BBYO chapters across the globe celebrate Shabbat together even when they are physically apart.

Our chapter will have a table at this year’s Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Community-wide Chanukah Celebration. This event will take place between 5-6 p.m. at on the lawn at Mercato in Naples. We hope to see you there!

There are more details on all upcoming events to follow. Please keep an eye out for emails regarding all upcoming Naples and Fort Myers BBYO events.

We wish everyone a wonderful Hanukkah!

What is BBYO?

BBYO is a diverse and inclusive Jewish youth group to encourage Jewish teens to become more immersed and interested in meaningful Jewish activities and programs. The organization accepts Jewish teens attending 8th through 12th grades of all backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender, race, denominational affiliation, or socioeconomic status. BBYO currently reaches over 70,000 teens worldwide, with participants in over 60 countries and hundreds of chapters across the United States.

Supporting our teenage Jewish community

It is crucial to engage teens post B’nai Mitzvah-age in Jewish activities. Having teens get involved in BBYO and be eager to create and confidently continue their own Jewish community within their greater Jewish communities is critical to our future.

The BBYO chapter of Naples has entered its 11th year of partnership with Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, Temple Shalom, Chabad of Naples, and Beth Tikvah. Each organization provides financial support, volunteers and community involvement opportunities for the BBYO teens. We thank each and every one of our BBYO Alum, friends and other supporters for making this a safe and positive environment for the teens of BBYO Naples and Fort Myers.

If you know of someone who has a teen who might like to join BBYO Naples or Fort Myers or know of someone who may want to be an advisor to our chapters, please email me at cschreier@bbyo.org. You can also follow us on Instagram at Mishpacha_BBG and Negevaza. Scholarships to attend BBYO conventions and summer programs are available through both Jewish Federation of Greater Naples and the Temple Shalom Men’s Club. Please contact me for more information on scholarships. If you are a BBYO Alum and would like to be included in our Friends and Alumni of BBYO mailing list, please email us at mjs0821@ aol.com.