Updates from BBYO Naples and Fort Myers

By Cayla Schreier, BBYO Southwest Coordinator

Naples BBYO started off the new year, 2024, strong. On Sunday, Jan. 7, our Naples BBYO Chapter board held its first meeting at First Watch. The board members discussed goals for their upcoming term. They had a nice time catching up with one another and were excited to plan future events.

On Sunday, Jan. 21, our teens participated in Temple Shalom’s Mitzvah Day. We met up for a delicious breakfast at 8:30 a.m., which the Temple Shalom Men’s Club was generous enough to sponsor. Temple Shalom congregants, along with the teens, participated in numerous mitzvahs, such as: “Welcome Home” sign making for Habitat for Humanity, dog biscuit making, jewelry making and Meals of Hope. Our teens over the age of 16 donated blood for the blood drive.

Thank you to Bobbie Katz, the Men’s Club and Temple Shalom for organizing this wonderful day of mitzvahs.

Our teens planned three events for February. A Cookie Decorating Orientation was planned to serve as a kickoff for our Naples teens to introduce prospects to their local BBYO chapters and to engage their current members. This program allowed current members and prospects to get to know one another, decorating some delicious sugar cookies in the process.

The Mishpacha B’nai B’rith girls planned a Galentine’s Day Party, which consisted of chocolate desserts, a romantic comedy and making felt tied pillows. The Negev AZA boys planned a Pre-Superbowl Game party, where they ate snacks, watched highlights from the 2023-2024 Football season, played Spikeball, foosball, ping-pong, corn hole and set up Superbowl Squares for the Kansas City Chiefs and San Fransisco 49ers.

As of this writing, three of our teens plan to attend BBYO’s International Convention in Orlando. Please keep an eye out for more details about upcoming events.

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. This 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.