Updates from Naples and Fort Myers BBYO

By Cayla Schreier, BBYO Southwest Coordinator

This month has been filled with fun activities along with celebrating Passover with family and friends across the state. The teens held two events and attended a regional convention during the month of April. On Sunday, April 7, our teens enjoyed delicious frozen yogurt at Menchies in Fort Myers. Several teens attended from both our Naples and Fort Myers chapters. On Sunday, April 14, our teens had an opportunity to earn volunteer hours conducting a beach cleanup at Lowdermilk Beach. The teens helped beautify the local beach by picking up trash such as empty bottles and caps, plastic wrappers and other unnatural debris. We are proud of our teens for stepping up and helping clean up our local community.

Four of our Naples BBYO teens attended North Florida Region’s Spring Regional Convention in Orlando, Florida between April 19-21. While it was a long journey that required a detour before arriving at the convention, the teens had a blast celebrating Shabbat together with their NFR BBYO friends, learning more about BBYO and participating in electing a 2024-2025 NFR Regional Board. The teens' favorite parts of the convention were the talent show, Havdalah, painting shoes to donate to underprivileged children and the Israel program. One of the chapter board members, Adam Berman, represented the Naples chapter at the talent show by sharing some funny jokes. It was nice to have a group of Jewish teens proudly celebrating their heritage and religion.

May was a busy month for our teens. The chapter hosted a final exam study session at Panera Bread on Naples Boulevard on Sunday, May 5. Teens were able to sit together and study for their finals while enjoying some snacks. Naples BBYO also held its chapter board elections on Sunday, May 19 in the BBYO Lounge.

We hope everyone has a wonderful summer vacation. Mazel Tov to all graduating seniors! We wish you luck on your future endeavors. 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 the 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 if know of someone who may want to be an advisor to our chapters, please email the Southwest Coordinator, Cayla Schreier, at cschreier@bbyo.org. You can also follow us on Instagram @Mishpacha_BBG and @Negevaza.

Scholarships to attend BBYO conventions and summer programs are available through both the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples and the Temple Shalom Men’s Club. Please contact Cayla 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.