Updates from Naples and Fort Myers BBYO

By Cayla Schreier, BBYO Southwest Coordinator

After a wonderful local kickoff, our Naples BBYO teens joined their North Florida Region friends at a cool beach resort on Sunday, Sept. 8 for the NFR Fall Kickoff. Our nine teens loaded the bus early on Sunday morning to head to St. Petersburg for a fun and exciting day at a beach club, where they hung out with at the beach and pool, played pickleball, mini golf, and took out paddle boats. It was a fun experience, and we will see our friends again in Orlando on Veteran’s Day weekend for NFR’s Fall Convention.

Our teens hosted a movie night at Adam’s house. Twelve teens attended this event and watched movies, ate snacks and listened to one of our chapter board members, Mimi, present a thought-provoking presentation, “Why I Wear My Star,” which explained why people frequently wear their Star of David or other symbols of Judaism in the form of a necklace. Thank you to Adam and his family for hosting.

Naples BBYO will attend the Jewish Catholic Dialogue Kristallnacht Candle Lighting Ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m. at St. John’s in Naples (625 111th Ave., North). More information will be provided via email. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Yvonne at ylhflorida@gmail.com.

The teens will host a Friendsgiving Potluck in late-November. More details to follow.

Please keep an eye out for emails regarding all upcoming Naples and Fort Myers BBYO 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.

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 the Southwest Coordinator, Cayla Schreier, 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 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.