BBYO Naples and Fort Myers

By Cayla Schreier, BBYO Southwest Coordinator

March was a busy month for Naples BBYO. The teens held two events and participated in one volunteering opportunity. Nine of our Naples BBYO teens painted pottery at Cone06 Pottery in Naples on Sunday, March 3. They made some beautiful designs and colors on their choice of pottery.

Later in the month, four teens volunteered with the Jewish Federation of Lee and Charlotte County by distributing Purim Shalach Manos to Jewish residents of three assisted living facilities: two located in Bonita Springs and one in Estero. The teens bore the rush-hour traffic to help those residents feel special on such a joyous holiday.

Our second event was a delicious challah bake, which was held in conjunction with Florida Gulf Coast University Chabad on Sunday, March 31. The 11 teens got to know and meet some Jewish FGCU students through an ice breaker, learned about opportunities to continue their involvement in Jewish clubs and organizations post-high school, decorated their own challah covers and, most importantly, baked a challah from scratch.

Naples BBYO offered teens another volunteer opportunity with a beach cleanup on Sunday, April 14.

Our Naples BBYO teens were excited to attend North Florida Region’s Spring Regional Convention in Orlando, FL between April 19-21, where they got to see their other NFR BBYO friends, learn more about AZA, BBG, and BBYO, celebrate Shabbat together and elect a 2024-2025 NFR Regional Board.

We are happy that Naples BBYO has been able to offer scholarships to assist with the costs associated with membership in BBYO and with attending BBYO member exclusive events such as Spring Regional Convention. Thank you to all that have donated to Naples BBYO this past year.

We hope everyone had a nice and easy Passover holiday with friends and family.

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 alums, 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 @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.