usy international chapter of the year 2011 top programs · know each other better with ice...

USY International Chapter of the Year 2011 Top Programs

Note: Only chapters that submitted an application for International Chapter of the Year are featured. Each nominated chapter was asked to list and briefly described their top 15 Programs.

Top 15 Programs

CRUSY‐ Adath Israel in Cincinnati, OH


CHUSY‐ Beth Juduea in Long Grove, IL Chapter Activity and Programs a. Rosh Hashanah New Years Bash‐We celebrated a joyous, American‐style New Year’s party, for the traditional Jewish festival. b. Dogs of War‐We played a vicious game of capture the flag, involving paint, water, and surprises. c. Sukkah Hop‐We took a bus visited 3 of our fellow congregants Sukkahs while eating a progressive meal (eating a new course at each one) and having games, programs and fun at each stop. d. Ruach around the Campfire‐We gathered around the campfire for an evening of bonding, while singing ruach and eating smores. e. BJUSY/BTUSY Ice Breaker Lounge Night‐We joined in with our neighboring chapter, BTUSY, to get to know each other better with Ice Breakers. f. BJUSY Gladiators‐We went to Pump It Up (inflatables) for some competitive battles, as well as crowned the champion Gladiator in the end. g. Broomball w/BHUSY‐ We met up with BHUSY (neighboring chapter) for some competitive games of broomball, as well as inter‐chapter bonding. h. Candyland Scavenger Hunt‐We traveled throughout the synagogue in a scavenger hunt format to gather candy and meet fun characters from the traditional board game.


i. Iron Chef‐We broke into teams and were assigned different ingredients to make recipes and dishes that represented the seasons of the year for Tu’Bshvat. j. Jews Line is it Anyway?‐We played improv games and watched each other perform skits based off of the famous TV show. k. Minute to Win It‐We separated into grades for an evening of competitive games from the hit TV show. l. Hanukkah Party‐We gathered for candle lighting, latkes, and story time as we discussed the story of Chanukah m. Casino Night‐We played the traditional casino games (blackjack, poker, apples‐to‐apples), while raising money for Tikun Olam through chip counts and food purchases. n. CHUSYfest Toy Story Edition Pump‐Up‐We prepared for our Toy Story Themed Fall Convention (CHUSYfest) by teaming up and playing Toy Story/CHUSY Jeopardy, designed by the board. o. Trip to Israel‐We hopped on the 7pm flight to Tel Aviv and experienced all we could of Israel, right from our own youth lounge; including music, sports, IDF, food, and more.

EPA‐ Harrisburg USY in Harrisburg, PA Delivering Holiday Cards: Young Hebrew School students decorated High Holiday cards, which USYers then hand‐delivered to the elderly at the Jewish Home and Residence. Dodgeball: During our opening event, we did several icebreakers and played Dodgeball. Tie‐Dye and Movie: USYers tie‐dyed then watched movie classic “Back to the Future.” Kristallnacht Commemoration: USY took part in the community’s “Reading of the Names” ceremony, in which Holocaust victims are memorialized. Fall Convention: Harrisburg hosted Fall Convention, which featured a Saturday night dance. Chanukah Party: USYers celebrated together with snacks and group games, namely the EPA word game “Contact.” Volunteering at the Food Bank: USYers sorted through boxes upon boxes of frozen chicken at the Pennsylvania Food Bank, a local organization that gives out millions of pounds of food every year to the Harrisburg hungry. “13”: USYers attended the JCC Drama Department’s rendition of the energetic rock musical “13” about a boy preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. Megillah Readings: USYers at Chisuk Emuna and Beth El Temple sold spaghetti‐box groggers, which were then donated to Jewish Family Service (JFS). Jewtopia: USYers watched an off‐Broadway showing of the comedy “Jewtopia.” Purim Shul‐In: USYers packed over 200 bags of Mishloach Manot ordered by community members through USY, then slept over at Beth El Temple.


Purim Carnival: USYers manned a stand at the community‐wide Purim Carnival, then drove all around Harrisburg to deliver the Mishloach Manot. Phone‐A‐Thon: USYers called over 100 potential donors to solicit money for the Jewish Federation’s Annual Campaign; 10% of the money raised went to our chapter. Chocolate Seder: USY and Kadima experienced Passover through a creative seder, which featured chocolaty treats, loud theater games and, of course, blanket togas.

EMTZA‐ B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, MO Froyo and Minute to Win it! Played Minute to Win it – BAUSY Style and went to FroYo (Frozen Yogurt) for dessert. Selichot Study Session USY created their own Selichot study session and joined the congregation for the main service. Thrift Store Fashion Show USY’ers brought clothes and modeled them in the Fashion Show. They were donated to a local shelter. Purim Carnival with Gateway 180 Our USY runs the Purim Carnival. This year we sent a bus to bring the children from a homeless shelter to be part of the Carnival. Part of our Tikun Olam monies were used to help make this happen. Suki Yaki This program brought our USY’ers to a dinner in the Synagogue Sukkah with an Asian menu. We led the Friday evening service for the Congregation. USY Shabbat Once a month, we meet at a USY’ers house to celebrate Kabbalat Shabbat and have dinner hosted by the Parents. Eilat of Israel Made Israel maps out of ice cream, Wrote letters to soldiers, Had some food from Israel, Game on Israel Geography Recyling Bins USY’ers decorated garbage cans that were placed all over the Synagogue to encourage Recyling BAUSY Shore USy’ers dressed up in their favorite Jersey Shore character, board games, Guess who I am and making moral choices. Tri Wizard Tournament Could Harry Potter have been Jewish? Did a Scavenger Hunt, Video clip question game and discussion on comparison of some magic to Judaism. Chanukah Party Made Latkes, Sufganiyot, built a HUGE Chanukiah, sword fighting, singing Israel Summer Experience Lounge night that talked about all USY Summer opportunities. Heard from our USY’ers who attended some of the programs. Debbie Friedman Tribute Lounge Night Shared all of our favorite Debbie Friedman songs to serve as a blessing for her memory.


Kindergarten Fort Night Built a fort, played with oobleck, painted, told stories, read Cat in the Hat.

Hagalil‐ Toms River USY in Toms River, NJ 1. Outdoor laser tag‐Each year our chapter kicks off the year with a “bang” in order to get all the members excited about the coming year, as well as being a USYer in general, which we felt was definitely accomplished with an exhilarating afternoon of outdoor laser tag!! 2. USY and Kadima Karaoke in the Sukkah‐ This event provided a great opportunity to tie in Religion Education, Israel Awareness, Kadima Integration, as well as parent awareness as we invited both Kadima and all parents to learn about Sukkot both in America and Israel, and followed it up with an amazing SATO Karaoke challenge that raised 600 dollars for Kadima and USY! 3. USY Scavenger Hunt with Mens Club‐ Being a small chapter we are always in need of as much support as we can get and this program helped us show how great USY is by spending a day with Men’s Club as they drove our USY’ers around Toms River looking for various clues that ultimately lead to a great Kosher restaurant. 4. Casino Night for Tikun Olam With Kadima‐ The more Kadimaniks who are excited to be USYers the better which was the driving force behind again inviting Kadima to come out and play some great games with us where all proceeds (not actual gambling all money was raised with buy ins) went to SATO. We raised $500 dollars from this program alone. 5. TRUSY Goes to New Orleans‐ This past year our chapter was able to take advantage of an extraordinarily unique opportunity, as 9 of our most dedicated Usyers participated in the social action project of a lifetime when we traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana to go rebuild a home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. 6. Kids Night Out‐ Each month our USY’ers volunteer to babysit the younger children of our congregation to help give our loyal parents a night out and hopefully appreciate USY even more. 7. Blue Man Group and dinner in NYC‐ For this event we went to see world‐renowned blue man group and after the show ate at the always popular, all kosher, Ben’s Diner 8. Cemetery Cleanup‐ The local Jewish cemetery is always in need of beatification after a fall of leaves littering the cemetery, so Kadima and USY teamed up for this great Social Action program. 9. Friday Night Service‐ One Friday of every month USY’ers completely lead Friday Night services, which again gives our chapter a positive image in the community and acts as a great religion education program.


10. Interchapter Saturday Morning Service-Straying from our typical service, we decided to hold a Saturday morning, USY only, Shabbat service with another local chapter to help make our ties stronger and further the important aspect of religion education within our chapter. 11. Jewish Minute to Win it- This adaptation of the popular game show helped promote Jewish values in a new and creative way. 12. Superbowl Sunday Lox Boxes- For one of our most successful fundraisers of the year (raised $600) our chapter sells “lox boxes” which contain bagels, cream cheese, rugaluch, and lox to the entire congregation for Super Bowl Sunday. 13. Ski Trip- A great day of skiing was had by all who attended and on the way home we stopped in Teaneck for a great kosher dinner. 14. Car Wash- Our last major fundraiser of the year (700 dollars raised) encourages people to cleanout their cars before Pesach as well as support our chapter and Tikun Olam. 15. Israeli Culture Night- We watched an educational documentary on the Gaza conflict in Israel,

cluded all aspects of life in Israel. followed up by a very interesting conversation that in

Hagesher‐ Ohev Shalom in Richboro, PA Chapter Programming: Lounge Painting, Old/New Board Members BBQ, Briarwood Day Camp, “The Amazing Race” (scavenger hunt), Friday Night L(Family/Youth Group Services), Suessical the Musical (a youth run musical“Buzz Night.” Hosted: LTI, Kickoff, Mr. and Mrs. Hagesher Pageant

Hanefesh‐ Emanuel USY in West Hartford, CT Monthly TGIS – every month USYers meet at Friday night services to attend and lead the entire service followed by a walk to a USYers house for a kosher dinner and lots of Ruach.

• Mock wedding – since many teens have never been to a real wedding, we had a demonstration wedding complete with everything to make it kosher.

Annual Shabbaton – this past year we had a nickelodeon themed overnight complete with food, Ruach, host homes, an amazing dance, and slime for SA/TO.

Haunted hayride – the whole chapter piled in to a hayride truck for laughs, screams, and terror as we huddled together to jump away from haunted people and objects.


Bowling/laser tag – USYers met at a bowling and laser tag area for a great night of hanging out with friends, making new friends, and having a great time, bowling and playing laser tag.

Ice skating – social event to bring USYers to a local ice skating rink to hang out and make new friends.

Purim dance – costume‐mandatory dance to bring USYers to the megilah reading and to a masquerade dance complete with food and a‐bring‐your‐own music DJ opportunity.

Berlin Batting Cages – bus trip to a local batting cages area complete with mini golf, bumper boats, and go‐karts.

SA/TO car wash – car wash done by USYers outside Hebrew school to raise money for SA/TO.

Ben and Jerry’s scooping – first USY event of the year that brings together the community by having the synagogue community including the clergy come to the local ice cream shop to have ice cream scooped by USYers.

Bonfire night – a night of dancing, Ruach and fun as USYers make new friends while socializing around an open fire.

Hanegev‐ Bedrocks USY in Margate, FL a. Around the World in 8 religions ‐ The Margate Bedrocks used a system of 8 different stations consisting of information with beliefs, traditional clothing, customs, and staple foods portraying a certain religion best; the USYers experienced each religion and left with a "souvenir" as well as an enhanced view on the world. b. Facebook Profiling – USYers received a stereotypical picture to create a full Facebook profile for, while at the same time learning the wrongs about stereotyping and the potential dangers of putting too much personal information on the internet. c. Welcome to Hogwarts ‐ The USYers became wizards while playing a reallife quidditch game, making butter beer, and answering challenging Harry Potter trivia, all while promoting the HaNegev Regional Disney Day at Harry Potter World. d. Human Games ‐ This leadership development program included various games that required the Kadimaniks and USYers to only use their bodies when participating; it motivated the USYers to use creativity and teamwork when completing each game. e. DWTB: Dancing with the Bedrocks ‐ Each USYer was paired up with a Kadimanik and given a costume, a song, and a genre of dance to create an original dance number in a limited amount of time to participate in our


chapter‐wide version of Dancing with the Stars. f. The Wonderful World of Purim ‐ USYers, Kadimaniks and Chalutzimniks performed a Disney themed musical shpiel for the synagogue members, written by the USYers themselves (please see attached script). g. Welcome to the "+972" – USYers were exposed to the different aspects of Israel through a game of Twisrael (Israel edition Twister), instructions on creating the perfect falafel and pita, current events and memorial candles for soldiers, and a chapter‐wide barometer game with questions ranging from light to heavy regarding Israel. h. Penny for your Thoughts – Using the pennies collected in a temple‐wide fundraiser, the USYers played various “silly” games and challenges using only the pennies; the USYers were also introduced to the idea of how impactful loose change can be to families with financial troubles. i. Miss Bedrock ‐ It is a Margate tradition to have the boys dress up like girls and participate in a 3 category pageant including an introduction, a talent, and a formal wear/question round, where the winner is crowned "Miss Bedrock". j. Coke vs. Pepsi – USYers participate in the Coke and Pepsi Challenge where they must guess which item is generic or brand name out of numerous different items; USYers also gain insight on the price differences of the two items and how in our economy today, every cent in price makes a huge difference. k. Where in the World is David Ben Gurion? – USYers used various clues hidden around the youth building to create a timeline of David Ben Gurion’s life; the program ended with a reenactment of when Israel gained independence in 1948, followed by a large celebration. l. Jewz iz Newz – The Kadimaniks and USYers learned all about the different Jews that are big in the media, ranging from Albert Einstein to Steven Spielberg, by playing various “Guess Who” games. m. Sex and the Sukkah – USYers ventured to the Sukkah at our temple to discuss Sex and the torah as well as sexual safety and life‐changing consequences. n. KadUSY Shabbas – Starting at shul on Saturday morning, the USYers and Kadimaniks spent the day together in the youth building, concluding with Havdallah; we discussed the relation of mitzvoth to today’s society, as well as bonded as a chapter through chofesh and “Shabbat friendly” games. o. Team Allie – A USYer in our chapter, Allie, has Multiple Sclerosis, and as a chapter we sponsored her and walked in the MS Walk here in South Florida.


METNY‐ H2I USY (Hillcrest Jewish Center, Hollis Hills Jewish Center and Israel Center for Conservative Judaism) Remembering the Holocaust: To commemorate Yom HaShoah, our Israel Affairs Vice President led a discussion about resistance to the Holocaust and the importance of remembering the Holocaust in response to a screening of the short film Pigeon that deals with French resistance against Nazi Germany. • Tie‐Dye Night: A combined social and social actions program, our USYers brought two shirts with them to tie‐dye—one to keep for themselves, and one to donate to the less fortunate. • Purim Carnival: Our annual Purim Carnival, open to the community, featured booths such as Ring Toss, Mask Making, Face Painting, Bean Bag Toss, a Moon Bounce, “Queen Esther’s Beauty Salon,” a pie‐our‐advisor station that itself raised over $200 for Tikun Olam, and a costume parade—all led by our USYers. Supplementary Material Attached: Pictures • Bowling: Bowling was designed to be one the bi‐yearly outside programs that we take all of our groups on—allowing our youngest members to spend time with our Kadimaniks and USYers, thus exciting them about the future that they have in youth group. • Gaza Flotilla: Facts and Myths: Our Israel Affairs Vice President led our USYers in a discussion about the events surrounding the Gaza Flotilla, which included debunking popular misconceptions through the use of American and foreign news coverage of the incident. • Lag B’Omer Bonfire: Our chapter celebrates Lag B’Omer as it is celebrated in Israel— with a bonfire in the parking lot of one of our synagogues in which we roast marshmallows to create s’mores while spending time bonding outdoors in the warm evening air. Supplementary Material Attached: Pictures • Ben & Jerry’s Seder: This program provides USYers with a fun twist on the seder before Passover begins, and entails eating pistachio, cookie dough, and “everything but the kitchen sink” ice cream as laid out in a custom‐made Haggadah. Supplementary Material Attached: Pictures and Haggadah • Food Olympics: This program involves various contests between USYers involving food—transferring an orange neck‐to‐neck to the next person, feeding an apple to a blindfolded USYer, picking up pieces of penne pasta with a piece of linguine in the mouth, separating M&Ms from pudding using only the mouth, building a graham cracker and marshmallow fluff tower, and a whipped cream pie eating contest. Supplementary Material Attached: Pictures • Kindergarten Night: This night was designed to allow USYers to leave their high school problems behind them for a night and just be kids again, complete with juice boxes, cookies, story time, nap time, and just hanging out. • Murder Mystery: One of our USYers designed this program as a joint program between


our USYers and eighth graders, in which each group was given an index card which contained a set of circumstances that implicated them in the murder of our Youth Director; for each new room they were led to, they received a new hint before finally discovering which Divisional Staff member was responsible for our Director’s murder. • Scattergories: This program served as our Opening Program and Registration, and thus was designed to foster the building of relationships between our registering USYers who were strategically split into groups to play a custom‐made Scattergories game created by our Membership/Kadima Vice President and our President. Supplementary Material Attached: Pictures • Iron Chef: Hamantashen: This program was designed to celebrate the upcoming holiday of Purim as well as to keep members interested and involved in our chapter—we were lucky enough to be joined by the Kiryah Divisional Board for this team‐building activity of baking hamantashen with no recipe and only a table full of ingredients. • Scary Movie Night: This program was intended to be a relaxing night for our USYers that would also raise money for Tikun Olam, as USYers brought movies to watch that were voted on with the use of quarters—the movie with the most quarters on it was the one we watched! • Multi‐Cultural Night: This program was designed to introduce USYers to the cultures of Jews throughout the world through food, music, and a comparison of customs between American & Israeli Jews and Moroccan, Ethiopian, and Caribbean Jews. • Chapter Shabbat: Although we originally intended for this to be an Inter‐Regional Shabbaton between our chapter and a chapter from Peabody, MA, after the Massachusetts chapter cancelled at the last minute, we turned this program into a relaxing Shabbat at one of our synagogues where our chapter’s members joined the congregation for Shabbat morning services, played board games and partook in a sicha before davening Mincha, having a delicious Seduah Shlishit, and davening Maariv and Havdalah.

NERUSY‐ Lexington USY in Lexington, MA Ice cream social‐ LUSY started off the year with an informal lounge that included ice cream, icebreakers, and some general bonding.

Car wash‐ on the first day of temple Hebrew School chapter members held a car wash and raised $539 for SATO.

Kimball’s‐ A LUSY tradition for a kickoff event, over 30 members went to Kimball’s Farm for ice cream, mini‐gold, bumper boats, and a big brother/sister program between Sr. USYers and Jr. USYers.

Teen high holiday services‐ this year for the second day of Rosh Hashanah our Rel/Ed lead us in a debate, and different discussions about the Rosh Hashanah service instead of traditional prayers, which really helped members connect in a new way.


Sweets in the Sukkah‐ Not only did members attend the Sr. USY Sweets in the Sukkah where we had icebreakers, learned about Sukkot, and just hung out, we also staffed Sukkot programs for 3rd‐6th graders with over 20 members in attendance at each event.

Paintball‐ this was a new event that we tried in order to draw more boys; chapter members went paintballing, met up with members from Sharon USY, and generally just had a good time.

Camp/Israel Shabbat‐ this Shabbat service gave LUSY members the opportunity to lead services in the main congregation and raise awareness about various Jewish camp and Israel summer experiences.

Rock band lounge‐ LUSYers came together in our beautiful youth room to play rock band and just hang out with each other.

Kabbalat Shabbat at Rabbi Lerner’s‐ after leading Friday night services we went over to our rabbi’s house for zmirot, benching, and a little torah study.

Bagel sales‐ LUSY brought back an old tradition of selling bagels on Sunday mornings and over the year we raised over $200 for SATO

Freshmen sleepover‐ 20 freshmen had the opportunity to sleepover at the temple, bond as a grade and learn about USY and then the executive board came in the morning and made them breakfast.

Top chef lounge‐ another new event 7th‐12th graders hung in the youth lounge, baked, and then sold the baked goods to raise money for SATO the next day.

Snow tubing‐ over 25 LUSYers and guests from other chapter went to Nashoba Valley for a night of snow tubing and fun.

Israel teen minyan‐ LUSYers met to pray, discuss Israel, debate, and just enjoy more bonding time.

Purim Carnival‐ this USYer‐run carnival was a great way for us to interact with the congregation and raise money for SATO and the Youth Program, this year we raised $2000.


New Frontier Palo Alto USY

Pinwheel‐ Seattle ACHIM in Mercer Island, WA A Shabbat in the Big Apple : For our Chapter Shabbaton we had a New York themed Shabbat and Purim put together, with programs from Times Square to 5th Avenue to Grand Central Station. • Cosmic Bowling: Both Seattle Achim and Seattle Nimratz chapters came together for a night of glow in the dark bowling, dancing, and neon and white attire! • Pan Can Walk: USYers volunteered to help out with Seattle’s Pancreatic


Cancer Walk in honor of one of our members grandmother who died of pancreatic cancer. • Assaf Hot Topic: Assaf Nisenboym, an Israeli soldier from the organization StandWith Us came to speak to us at a hot topic about his experiences as an Israeli soldier, but most importantly about what life in Israel is like. • Battle of the Sexes: This services and dinner event included programs like “egg on spoon in mouth,” “reeses in whipped cream,” and an eating contest with boys competing against girls. • Lazy Sunday SA/TO Event: For this event Seattle Achim made 20 blankets for the Seattle Children’s Hospital while watching a movie for a relaxing event that also benefited a cause. • Seattle Achim Goes Ice Skating!: This Chanukah event started with a great USY‐style Havdallah before ice skating, enjoying delicious snacks like jelly donuts, and ending with a “White Elephant” gift exchange. • Whirlyball: The synagogue planned and hosted a whirlyball event for the USyers in honor of winning International Chapter of the Year, all of us joining in on the lacrosse/bumper car mix sport. • Simchat Torah Flash Mob: A time of celebration and dancing around for Simchat Torah had a USY mix to it this year, during the second to last hakafa we took over and broke out into a scripted song and dance for an enjoyable seemingly spontaneous dance that spiced up the typical Simchat Torah celebration at Herzl‐Ner Tamid. • Bumpin’ Stickers: This event was split into multiple parts such as Israel’s History Through Music, discussing bumper stickers as seen is “Shirat HaSticker” by Hadag Nachash, and watching a number of Israeli comedy clips. • Hawaiian Luau and Kidnapping Kickoff: To start this event off we kidnapped around 20 freshmen and had them split up into groups, having to search around Mercer Island for clues on where the actual destination of our event was. Once all the clues were found they arrived at the event for a Hawaiian luau beach party complete with mocktails, ticki torches, and tropical shish kabobs. • We <3 Shabbat Services and Dinner: This love themed Shabbat services and dinner included fun games such as the Newlywed Game where best friends were quizzed on how well they knew the other, the Dating Game, and more, wrapped up with a discussion about marrying/dating Jewish, and its significance to the USYers. • Purim Carnival: Every year the Jewish Community Center holds a Purim carnival for kids to dress up and win prizes, with booths set up by various Jewish group, and was a good way to show the chapter’s presence as a


part of the larger Jewish community. • Seniors Only SPECIAL Hot Topic: We invited Rob Jacobs, a member of the organization StandWithUs to speak to graduation seniors about defending Israel on the college campus, and what to expect as a supporter of Israel at college.

Seaboard‐ B’nai Shalom in Olney, MD 2011 USY Formal AFTER PARTY BSO Roller Skating Overnight a. Attendance: 102 b. After USY Formal, transportation was provided to go Roller‐skating, swimming at 1 am, volleyball & basketball at 3 am, Food, Tikun Olam projects, movies, games, and sleeping. 2. Cosmic Bowling a. Attendance: 35 b. Attendees enjoyed cosmic bowling at night with plenty of junk food, new and old friends, many song requests and cool dance moves. 3. Passover Pig Out a. Attendance: 17 b. Attendees brought chametz (or other food they no longer wanted in their house) and joined together to eat and hang out; the left‐overs were donated to a local homeless shelter. 4. USY@BSO‘s 4th Annual Shabbaton: The Mishnah Strikes Back a. Attendance: 34 b. We lead the Shul’s Friday night service, had our own Saturday services and celebrated the rest of Shabbat together with games and bonding. 5. Chinese Food/Movie Night a. Attendance: 25 b. We ate Chinese food, watched a movie chosen by the amount of Tikkun Olam money collected for each, and we brought toys and wrapped them in wrapping paper to be donated to a children’s hospital for the holidays. 6. Freshman Kidnap a. Attendance: 12 Freshmen + Board Members b. Board members ‘kidnapped’ freshman from their homes and brought them to a Board member’s house where everyone played bonding games; later in the evening (midnight) the girls and boys were separated for continued bonding slash sleeping. 7. 3rd Annual Six Flags and Camping Overnight a. Attendance: 32 4 b. One of the most favored events of the year is when we leave early to spend the day at Six Flags, and afterwards we race to pitch the tents, collect wood, build a fire and make dinner for our exciting camping overnight.


8. Babysitting for T.O./Coat Drive a. Attendance: 5‐7/About 50 b. Our shul was having an event for adults, so USYers volunteered their time to babysit for the children and the money they earned was donated to Tikkun Olam; we also sponsored a coat drive to gather unwanted winter coats for donation. 9. Bagel Sales a. Attendance: 20 per week b. To raise money for Tikkun Olam, USYers sold bagels with and without cream cheese or butter, juice, and hot chocolate before and after religious school every Sunday. 10. MatzelToff a. Attendance: 20 b. We raised money and TO through selling chocolate Matzah. www.matzeltoff.com 11. Elections and Potluck a. Attendance: 17 b. Everybody brought an item of food to be shared and we held our chapter elections and gave mementos to old chapter officers. 12. USY Pool Party and BBQ a. Attendance: 26 b. USYers enjoyed swimming and playing on floats in the pool while socializing with friends as well as ate a lot of hot dogs and hamburgers. 13. Make the Fast go Faster/Bag Hunger a. Attendance: 15/Synagogue Congregation ‐ over 200 participants b. After high holiday services, USYers and 8th graders played games and hung out to pass time before break‐fast; USYers stapled flyers onto paper bags for family’s to take home and fill with food to bring back for donation: we collected 1,418 pounds of food! 14. Multi‐Chapter Kickball Event a. Attendance: 23 b. Two local USY chapters versed each other at kickball, then USYers went swimming and had a BBQ. 15. Purim Carnival a. Attendance: 16 b. USYers helped run the congregation Purim carnival by running various booths including a USY poker booth and earn Service Learnin

SWUSY‐ Agudas Achim in Austin Texas

g hours while having fun.

Freshman Kidnap Broomball‐ We kidnapped the Freshman to welcome them into AAUSY, and played an intense game of Broomball and ate ice cream after.

Iron Chef‐ Event with Kadima where we competed to make the most creative and best tasting Jewish themed food.


Mr. AAUSY Fashion Show‐ Everyone brought clothes to donate to GoodWill, but we first had a fashion show to vote on which Mr. AAUSY used the donated clothes in the most creative way.

AAUSY Services (Fall)‐ AAUSY led services for the synagogue and then had a study session with Rabbi Kobrin about Pirkei Avot

AAUSY Services (Spring)‐ AAUSY attended services together and then had a study session with Rabbi Kobrin about abortion.

AAUSY Limo Scavenger Hunt‐ Scavenger Hunt throughout Austin dressed up in dresses and tuxedos.

Bowl‐Bowl‐ We went bowling and went to get bowls of ice cream in anticipation of the SuperBowl, and then collected “bowls” (cans) of food to donate.

Chai‐Light Me‐ Joint event with BBYO, NFTY, and USY in which we had a Graffiti Party (highlight each other’s white shirts under blacklight) with an Iron Chef dessert element.

Harry Potter Overnight‐ An exciting night of Quiddich, magic, a Tikkun Olam HP‐based dating game, and lots of Harry Potter movies.

AAUSY Goes Tubing‐ Summer event where we went to New Braunfels to float the river.

Spaghetti Dinner‐ Our 9th Annual Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction fundraiser. Raised more money this year than ever before!

Elections‐ Elections plus pizza‐making party at an AAUSYite’s home.

Installations End of Year Banquet‐ Install new board, give awards and speeches, and watch our annual slideshow.

Group Dynamix‐ We went to Dallas to participate in a lock‐in with rock climbing, ropes, and laser tag.

USY International Chapter of the Year 2011 “Best of” Programs

Note: Only chapters that submitted an application for International Chapter of the Year are featured.

Israel


CHUSY‐ Beth Juduea in Long Grove, IL Israel Program: Trip to Israel‐We started by catching the 7 pm flight to Tel‐Aviv, a fake flight of course, from our Synagogue, Beth Judea. Once we landed, we traveled into different classrooms to experience different parts of Israel. We had classrooms set up for live Israeli music, Israeli sports, writing letters to the IDF, and experience Israeli culture in the youth lounge. Throughout this program, we educated ourselves about the holy land and became more aware of the issues Israel faces every day. We even looked up and heard from native Israelis about their time in the army, and their lives in Israel. Before we got back on the plane home, we discussed what Israel meant to each of us, and gave different views and experiences from our own personal trips to Israel. When we finally got back to Beth Judea, we all had had an excellent time, and could not wait to return to the land we love.

EPA‐ Harrisburg USY in Harrisburg, PA Our Israeli Affairs VP met with our Chapter Adviser to plan an Israel Geography Game to play during our Ice Skating Event. Unfortunately, we had to cancel this event due to inclement weather. The game, a match‐the‐city‐with‐its‐description speed challenge, is assembled and ready to be put to use in the upcoming year. In addition, Harrisburg USYers stayed in the loop about Israel through the Facebook group “EPA LOVES ISRAEL,” which is updated by the Regional I/A VP and other active


participants.

EMTZA‐ B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, MO Our Israel Scavenger Hunt created an environment that gave our USY’ers the opportunity to learn about different cities in Israel and try different Israeli foods. This helped strengthen the number of USY’ers going to Israel.

Hagalil‐ Toms River USY in Toms River, NJ Our best Israel program was undeniably the Israeli Culture Night. Our chapter has difficulty getting people to come to Israeli themed events, however it is still extremely important for us to stress the importance of supporting Israel to the best of our abilities. We watched a documentary highlighting the difficulties of the Gaza pullout in 2005. Afterwards we discussed the issues however did not stop there. We continued the discussion and we were overjoyed to see the enthusiasm our members began to show not only for this issue but also for Israel in general. We ultimately discussed many aspects life in Israel and are definitely hoping that momentum carries over to this year as we continue to plan Israeli based programs.

Hagesher‐ Ohev Shalom in Richboro, PA This year, we included Israel into most of our meetings and advocacy efforts. We created a bulletin board full of pictures and facts relating to Israel. We also added Israel information into each of our meetings, to keep us up to date and informed.

Hanefesh‐ Emanuel USY in West Hartford, CT Our best Israel program was held during one of our monthly Shabbat TGIS dinners, which was Israel themed. Before we ate our falafel and hummus, we were asked to stand in a line based on height as fast as possible. After 20 seconds the Israeli affairs board member yelled stop. We were still in a group in the middle of the room; we were nowhere near getting into formation. We were then instructed to get into a line based on the order of every ones birthday placement in the year. After 20 seconds, stop was yelled. We were all puzzled on why we had done this activity. Our Israeli affairs board member then explained that 20 seconds is the amount of time before a missile is about to land in Israel after a warning goes off. As we had just demonstrated, you can’t do much in 20 seconds. How would you be able to save yourself from a missile attack? That program was very informative to all who attended, and the falafel tasted even better with a little Israeli knowledge.

USY International Chapter of the Year 2011 “Best of” ams Progr

Hanegev‐ Bedrocks USY in Margate, FL The objective of “Welcome to the ‘+972’” is for USYers to be updated on Israeli culture and current events. This is a station program. Station 1 is Twisrael. Each color on the Twister board should have pictures of different locations in Israel. Ask the USYers if they know any significant information about the places displayed; share descriptions and importance of these places as well as other pictures. Station 2 focuses on how to make the “ideal” pita sandwich. Describe ‘rules’ that one must follow when making this sandwich and the cultural foods that Israel has to offer. Station 3 is more serious, where we talk about the war situation and read personal stories from IDF soldiers. Each USYer will light a candle to honor lost and captured soldiers. After every group has been to each station, play the barometer game. This includes statements being made regarding anything Israel. After each statement, have USYers move to the left if they agree, the right if they disagree, or the middle as neutral and explain their reasoning. End the program with a USYer sharing a few words about their summer trip in Israel, to promote USY summer programs and visiting our homeland. Supplies: ‐ ‘Twisrael’ board (Twister mat & spinner w/ pictures of different locations in Israel in place of the colors) ‐ Falafel, pita, Israeli salad, hummus, tahini ‐ Memorial candles/matches ‐ Stories about Israeli soldiers and the IDF ‐ Barometer questions

METNY‐ H2I USY (Hillcrest Jewish Center, Hollis Hills Jewish Center and Israel Center for Conservative Judaism) Israel Monopoly: One of our Chapter Board members created a human sized Monopoly board featuring important places in Israel. This board was created from construction paper and arranged in a typical Monopoly pattern. Participants were split into teams, and after landing on a space, were provided with a short description of the site that they had the opportunity to purchase. This program was designed to provide USYers with a view into the different cities, regions, landmarks, and places of interest in Israel through an interactive human‐sized board game. This program provided a fun opportunity for our USYers to relax and learn about some important places in Israel at the same time. Everyone had a great time and went home knowing a little more about Israel than they did before.

NERUSY‐ Lexington USY in Lexington, MA Israel Program: Israeli Shuk ‐ On May 10th, 2011 about 20 Lexington USYers came to the temple to set up and enjoy a mock Israeli shuk on Yom Haatzmaut. There were many booths, including a news stand with provocative questions about Israeli current events, taking your picture next to a backdrop of the kotel, a falafel stand, Israeli dancing, and various other booths for every age. The Current events booth attracted kids from third grade to adults, everyone talking and learning about different issues. This event was fun, had opportunities for all ages, and made the adults in the community aware that they are raising a youth that cares deeply about Israel.


New Frontier Palo Alto USY Before we went onto the paintball fields we educated our members about the Israel Defense Force’sethical code which they follow in times of war and differentiates them from many other of the world’s armies. The leader began by reading the key mission statement, which lays out Tzahal’s goals and the importance of what they do for their country. Then, we passed out small cards of the IDF’s 13 ethics and each person read one, as we discussed each individually. Lastly, we moved into a larger discussion about which ethics stand out to us, and how the IDF seems to represent a different or similar moral code from America, or other nations as well as the importance of these ideals in times of war. This program was successful in that it presented a new perspective of the Israel army and a better understanding of some of their decisions. We were able to conduct detailed discussions about the specific ethics and I feel that people learned along with having a great time at paintball.

Pinwheel‐ Seattle ACHIM in Mercer Island, WA Bumpin’ Stickers USYers were “briefed” (i.e. military briefing) about the event and were split up into groups for the first part of the event (Israel’s History Through Music). Each group went through six stations, each of which was about a different time in Israel’s history (for example, Pre‐State, War of Independence, Yom Kippur war, ect). In each station, the station leader(s) pretended to be characters from that era and would introduce the group to a song from that era in Israel. The era and song was discussed, and then each character would have a special interaction/activitiy with the group (e.g. teach a dance, play a game, teach a Krav Maga technique). After each group rotated through every section, we took a 10 minute break, during which Israeli music was played. Next, the groups reconvened and were introduced to “Shirat HaSticker” by HaDag Nachash. We then discussed Israel’s sense of humor by learning about the funny slogans mentioned in the song and by watching a number of Israeli comedy clips. Finally, the group discussed the political slogans mentioned in the song: we learned about the issues they addressed and share opinion/discussed questions.

Seaboard‐ B’nai Shalom in Olney, MD As a part of our annual Shabbaton we had an Israel program. We each got a bag of candy. Each candy bag contained about an equal amount of Baby Ruth’s and Almond Joy’s. With each bag was a group. With our group we were instructed to make the Israeli flag out of the candy we were given. We had a minute or two to make it. Once we were done we were judged on which team made the best flag. After that competition we got to be creative. Each group got to design their own Israeli flag. One of the groups in particular made Israel out of all of the candy in the bag. It was fun to think of something creative to do with a little bit of candy we had to work with. It developed teamwork along with chapter bonding and a newly found love for Israel.

USY International Chapter of the Year 2011 “Best of” ams Progr

SWUSY‐ Agudas Achim in Austin Texas Last school year, AAUSY had an Israel‐themed Iron Chef event in conjunction with our Kadima chapter. We split up into six teams and had to create a three course meal that was somehow related to Israel. The food items were judged based on relevance to the Israeli theme and tastiness.


Note: Only chapters that submitted an application for International Chapter of the Year are featured. Each nominated chapter was asked to briefly describe their best program in Religion/Education

Best of Religion/Education Programming


CHUSY‐ Beth Juduea in Long Grove, IL Rel/Ed Program: Ruach Around the Campfire‐ We gathered around the campfire in the backyard of our synagogue for a night of ruach and bonding. On a cold fall evening, we wrapped ourselves close in blankets and sang ruach “popcorn” style. We went through all the classic ruach songs we all love to do in USY, as well as learned some new chants that members shared with us. This gave us some new songs to add to our collection and traditions as a chapter, we well as new songs to bring in to the region. While rejoicing in ruach, we also made smores like the typical campfire experience. In the end we all had a great bonding experience around the campfire.

EPA‐ Harrisburg USY in Harrisburg, PA Our Chocolate Seder was high‐energy and packed with educational value. The outline, while staying true to tradition, translated each section of the seder into a fun and relevant parallel practice. The seder featured the four cups of chocolate milk, “Hillel S’mores,” a chocolate‐fountain in which to dip twice, chocolate syrup covered charoset and many other abnormal noshes. Also among the assortment at our seder was certified Fair Trade chocolate. While remembering the slavery of our ancestors, we found it meaningful to address the workers who are still enslaved today. We livened the event with theater games, costumes and improvisation. In all, this was an awesome introduction to USY for the Kadimaniks, who experienced the aspects of USY that make it so memorable: great programming, fun food, religious and worldly relevance and friendships that make parading around in togas seem perfectly normal.

USY International Chapter of the Year 2011 Top ams Progr

EMTZA‐ B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, MO Facebook Prayer Night – We broke up in groups and picked prayers that members of the group identified as significant. They create a page on what the prayer would look like if it was a facebook page.

Hagalil‐ Toms River USY in Toms River, NJ Jewish Minute to Win it was very successful for TRUSY. Instead of just having a service we adapted the always fun game show and included challenges based on Judaism, such as having to answer questions about the weekly torah portion before participating in the event, or lighting the Hannukiah correctly. The event was really fun and over 50 percent of our membership attended. This definitely opened the door for us to do more religion themed program in the future as many members really opened their mind to learning about religion.

Hagesher‐ Ohev Shalom in Richboro, PA Every other month Ohev hosts a family oriented Shabbat service called Friday Night Lights. Following the youth oriented service, USY hosts a special dinner for all of the USYer’s in attendance. Not only can USYer’s participate in a fun service, but also they get to spend time with their friends afterwards.

Hanefesh‐ Emanuel USY in West Hartford, CT Our best Rel/Ed program was our Shabbaton. The theme for this weekend was Judaism in the media. This event started off with leading Friday night services for the entire congregation. Then we continued with dinner and a program and discussion on Judaism in the media. Then we walked to the host homes to bond and play games. In the morning we met up at shul for services led entirely by USYers who attended the shabbaton. Then the USYers had lunch. After that we had a discussion with the rabbi to go more in depth on the topic of Judaism in the media. We concluded this event by having a Havdallah followed by a dance.

Hanegev‐ Bedrocks USY in Margate, FL “Around the World in 8 Religions” increases USYers’ knowledge of Judaism and other religions in our world. The USYers will make a ‘passport’ out of given materials before venturing to the stations. The booths around the room should contain 1 religion each with pictures, food, language, religious beliefs, and anything else of significance. After USYers’ time at that station, they will receive a stamp on their passport and move on to the other booths. The religions chosen can include Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Islam, Atheism, Hinduism, Shintoism, and especially Judaism. Once each USYer obtains 8 stamps on their passport, ask


them to discover a common thread between each religion (if any); have a group discussion about these threads and the world’s attitude toward the religions.

METNY‐ H2I USY (Hillcrest Jewish Center, Hollis Hills Jewish Center and Israel Center for Conservative Judaism) Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Seder Kadesh ‐ Sanctify this holy day by blessing the first cup of chocolate milk. Urchatz ‐ Purify ourselves by washing our hands. Karpas ‐ Dipping of the strawberry. Yachatz ‐ Break the chocolate matzah. Magid ‐ Tell the story of how we became free to eat ice cream. Rachtza ‐ Wash our hands again. Motzi & Matzah ‐ Blessing over the sweet treats we are going to eat. Maror ‐ Bittersweet ice cream to remind us of the pain of our ancestors. Korech ‐ The Hillel Sandwich. Shulchan Orech ‐ The festive treats. Tzafun ‐ Finding the afikomen. Barech ‐ A prayer of thanks for the ice cream. Hallel ‐ Final praises. Nirtzah ‐ Conclusion.

NERUSY‐ Lexington USY in Lexington, MA USY Shabbat ‐ The weekend of March 4‐5th 2011, 25 USYers from Lexington and nearby chapters all experienced the Disney themed USY Shabbat at temple Emunah. Friday night, Lexington USYers put on a skit for everyone, integrating the welcoming of Shabbat with the lovely characters of Disney. On Shabbat morning all the USYers took part in leading services. Later, everyone was split into groups to put together a skit that involved a Disney movie and a topic from the Torah Study that we had earlier. On Saturday evening, everyone joined the rest of NERUSY at the Purim Masquerade Ball.

New Frontier‐ Palo Alto USY During this event we played a game that had Hanukkah trivia. Everybody was involved and everyone had fun while doing it. The game lasted for around 20 minutes and everyone had smiles on their faces. The game was simple, yet the questions made them stretch their memories and be challenged. I think that this was the best event as far as Religious Education because it contained the right balance between fun and Judaism. It was not just facts, but at the same it was not just a regular game with no Jewish content. Nobody fell asleep, and instead I think we had some fun.


Pinwheel‐ Seattle ACHIM in Mercer Island, WA We <3 Shabbat Services and Dinner Due to this event’s close proximity to Valentine’s Day, we decided to have the theme of this Shabbat dinner and services to be love. With about a 26‐40 attendance, we played game shows like the Newlywed Game and the Dating Game. In the Newlywed Game, we had three sets of partners (Best friends) and put them to the test to see how much they knew about the other. One partner would leave the room and we would ask the other partner a question about themselves. When the partners returned, we asked that they thought their partners had answered to the question. If they said the same thing, they would get a point. After the game shows, we returned to the youth lounge to eat dessert. After everyone had settled down, we concluded with a very insightful discussion about how people thought about marrying/dating Jewish, and its significance to them.

Seaboard‐ B’nai Shalom in Olney, MD Program Name: USY@BSO‘s 4th Annual Shabbaton: The Mishnah Strikes Back Location: Bnai Shalom of Olney Group: USY Award Categories: Religious, Social, and Israel Date: January 21st and 22nd , 2011 Cost: $10 for chicken nugget meal or $18 dollars for adult meal Time: 6:00 p.m on Friday to 6:00 pm on Saturday Attendance: 34 USYers The fun began with an incredible Shabbat dinner. After dinner some of the USYers taught the other USYers and the rest of the people attending the dinner some popular Jewish songs that we sing at regional and international events. After ruach and birkat hamazon we all headed in to the main sanctuary to begin a USY led service. The prayers throughout the service were led by multiple USYers. After the service we all changed out of our nice clothes and we did an Ice Breaker. We played a variation of the game Zoo. Each person had a animal and a sound to associate with that animal. It was fun and made everyone laugh. After this we did an Israel Program. We were split up into groups of 4. Each group was given a pile of candy, which was blue and white. The first task was to create the Israeli Flag out of the candy. Then we got to make whatever flag we wanted but it had to relate to Israel. Then we got to make a design of our choice. We had a fashion show, using the donated clothes. As part of the activity, we used the fashion show items to make a presentation, whether it was a skit, a dance, or a song, we related our skits to a Jewish related topic. After this fun‐filled fashion show, we had free time. During free time we played Scrabble, hide n seek, and we all hung out and talked. The next morning we had our very own Shacharit service in one of the classrooms. The service we had was very unique. We had a few discussions about prayer and the Torah and we played some fun games to learn some of the prayers. After that we had lunch which was sponsored by the Sisterhood. After we changed out of our Shabbat attire we played a variation of Minute to Win It. We had three or four


different tasks that our team had to complete within a minutes time. It was a really fun game and it made our teams bond. After that we had a girls and boys bonding session. It really made our chapter a lot closer. After that we went into the sanctuary and we did Mincha. Instead of praying we did Parsha Plays for the week’s torah portion instead of reading the portions out of the Torah. Then we prayed Maariv and Havdalah. Overall it was a very successful event and a big membership boost.

SWUSY‐ Agudas Achim in Austin Texas At least twice a year, AAUSY attends services at our shul. At services, USYers read torah, lead services, and are involved in all the facets of the shabbat service. After services, the rabbi leads a study session while we eat lunch together. Afterwards we usually go to someone's house to spend the rest of shabbat together.


Note: Only chapters that submitted an application for International Chapter of the Year are featured. Each nominated chapter was asked to briefly describe their best program in Social Action/Tikun Olam programming.

Best of Social Action/Tikun Olam Programming


CHUSY‐ Beth Juduea in Long Grove, IL Social Action Program: Trick or Canning‐For Halloween, we met up for a nice program of fun. We dressed up like any other Halloween, but instead of getting candy at each house, we asked for cans. We first met up at the shul, and split ourselves up into different cars. Each car went out and Trick or Canned in a different neighborhood. This way we got the most houses possible. We would get out of the car and normal trick or can once we got to the neighborhood. This way we could stash the cans in the car, since cans get heavy. In the end, we met back at the shul to count and separate the different cans. All of the cans we collected during this event went to Jewish charities in the area. As a chapter, we gave up typical Halloween festivities to collect canned foods for those less fortunate. This made our Halloween that much more special. Tikun Olam Program: Casino Night‐ At the start of the program, everyone was given a starting amount of chips to play traditional casino games like Black Jack and Poker. Executive Board members played the role of dealer as the members played to win more chips. If they ran out of chips, which happened many


times, they had to pay a certain amount to regain their chip count. Members ended up spending $227 that night to buy more chips. All the proceeds from this program was given to Tikun Olam After people went broke in the games, and in real life there was also a very competitive game of Apples‐to‐Apples going. This was for the members who were either not comfortable “gambling”, or wanted a more casual game to play. In the end we all had a great time playing casino games with each other, along with giving to a good cause.

EPA‐ Harrisburg USY in Harrisburg, PA Social Action: Delivering holiday cards was the event that most exemplified our chapter’s spirit of social action. Drawing upon an awareness of the importance of multi‐generational interaction, USYers facilitated 1st‐3rd grade Hebrew School students as they made Shana tova cards, then distributed the colorful cards to all 135 people living at the Jewish Home & Residence, a local assisted living facility. Many of the residents responded to our company with wide smiles and deep thanks. Some of the residents were not able to open or read the cards by themselves, so the USYers read the cards aloud and offered their own wishes. This crucial mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim, visiting the sick, is not always easy, but as USY realized that day, it is always rewarding. During this program, USYers were able to pass the energy and enthusiasm of the youngest members of our community to the oldest members. In return, we were rewarded with the gratitude of the residents and the satisfaction of knowing that we had upheld the commandment of Hiddur P’nei Zaken–honoring the elderly. Tikun Olam Program This year, Harrisburg participated in many notable Tikun Olam projects. We helped the Jewish Federation raise money to meet their annual goals. We sold boxes of pasta to be used as groggers, which were then donated to the food bank of the Jewish Family Service of Greater Harrisburg. We commemorated many Holocaust victims by reading their names aloud in a formal ceremony. The project that stands above all the others, however, is our annual Mishloach Manot delivery. Every year, community members designate friends or family to whom they would like to send care packages. USY then processes these requests, makes the packages by hand and hand‐delivers them to the recipients. In addition to the individual packages, USY also delivers several large packages for general consumption at the Jewish Home & Residence. As a result of handling over 200 bags, USY raised about $1,800 last year.

EMTZA‐ B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, MO We partnered with Gateway 180. A homeless shelter. We spent a day painting the dining room of the shelter. We spent another day going back and making over 200 bagged lunches. On a different day, we went and played board games with the children of the shelter. We sent a bus to pick up the children at the shelter and had them participate in the Purim Carnival. This is an ongoing program that we do every other month.


Hagalil‐ Toms River USY in Toms River, NJ The trip to New Orleans was the best Social Action project we could have possibly dreamt of, and the fact that no USY chapter has done anything like this before made it even more successful in our eyes. While only 9 USY’ers attended, the bond that those 9 came back with was contagious throughout the chapter. We immediately had requests to return the next year. As soon as the plane landed we immediately went to a church still in disrepair from Hurricane Katrina, and began doing heavy landscaping. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but the outside of the church looked brand new. The next 2 days we spent working on a lady’s house that had been severely damaged as well. We painted, fixed holes in the ceiling, and landscaped as well. While the house was not ready to be moved into, the progress we made was really unbelievable. At the end of the two days Ms. Sylvia, the owner was already inviting us over for Gumbo (if only it was kosher!!). The New Orleans trip was successful in our eyes because of the impact we were able to make. The members who came were able to go home and share the experience with their families, friends, and our community. We were able to display to the congregation how powerful our USY chapter is. Tikun Olam Program‐ Our best Tikkun Olam program was Karaoke in the Sukkah. In order to nominate someone to sing you must pay a minimum of 5 dollars. The person nominated must then either sing the song or pay another 5 dollars to opt out of singing. This format helped us raise 600 dollars for Tikun Olam. This program was also successful because we were able to invite parents and Kadimaniks. The Kadimaniks got a feel of how fun USY can be, but also instill in them that raising money for Tikun Olam is extremely important aspect of our organization. The parents invited were able to see first hand how great USY is and how passionate we are about helping others through our donations. The Rel/Ed aspect of this program made it a “well rounded” USY program, and our goal to raise money for TO was certainly met as well.

Hagesher‐ Ohev Shalom in Richboro, PA Social Action Program Every year Ohev hosts a weekend of service. This involves USYer’s and the other youth groups, participating in an act of service to better the community. It is a tradition of Ohev’s that we hope continues to grow. We look forward to planning an even bigger, better weekend this year. Tikun Olam Program This year, we raised Tikun Olam funds in a few different ways. However, our most successful program was during our “Suessical the Musical” production. Where we sold tickets for special messages to the cast members. Everyone had a blast and was happy to donate.

Hanefesh‐ Emanuel USY in West Hartford, CT Our best Socal Action/Tikun Olam project was the scoop night at the local Ben & Jerry’s. We had a deal with Ben and Jerry’s that USYers would be able to scoop ice cream, keep their tips, and take home the profit made that night. USYers were shown the ropes and got to scooping. Before long, the ice cream store was packed with synagogue families, people from around the region, clergy from the synagogue


including the rabbi, cantor, and ritual director and their families, and people passing by with a hunger for delicious ice cream. Everyone enjoyed scooping, and the house was packed! We were scooping constantly to fill orders. Every fifteen minutes or so we would switch with another few USYers who were ready to scoop. We raised over $120 that night! After our scooping time was over, USYers counted up the money from ‘’Philip’’ the SA/TO box, ordered their own ice cream and celebrated the end of a fun filled night outside of the store.

Hanegev‐ Bedrocks USY in Margate, FL Our participation in the Multiple Sclerosis walk meant more than just a social action program. One of our members, Allie, has MS and is a part of our Bedrock family, so we supported her as a chapter. We raised money for and walked in the MS event and also showed our support by sporting Team Allie shirts. We not only raised awareness for the people living with this disease, but supported one of our own members in her time of need. Tikun Olam Program For “Penny for Your Thoughts”, we began ahead of time by collecting pennies Temple wide, involving the entire congregation, as well as requested that the USYers also bring pennies from home to the program. We had the divided groups of USYers count their pennies and the team with the highest amount chose the game they wish to play first. An example of one of the games includes the teams using only their feet, passing the pennies across the entire room to be emptied into buckets. The team with the most pennies place in the bucket at the end of the allotted time wins. After each challenge we shared statistics that show how much the amounts in each team’s bucket may provide for a child in poverty (can be found on the internet). The USYers were astonished at how the loose change found around their house could help so many people in need. All coins were later donated to Tikun Olam, giving the members a sense of pride in helping the global community.

METNY‐ H2I USY (Hillcrest Jewish Center, Hollis Hills Jewish Center and Israel Center for Conservative Judaism) Care Packages: This program was designed to provide USYers with an opportunity to provide holiday care packages to children in need. Scheduled during the holiday season, this program had USYers package small gifts for children into care packages, which were donated along with handmade holiday cards to an organization that will distribute them to sick children. This program required the purchase of small presents and bags to pack them in; our Chapter President and Social Actions/Tikun Olam Vice President met up to purchase these items for the program. We were able to create over 40 care packages that would make the lives of sick children a little brighter during the holiday season. The items in the packages ranged from little slinkies to tops to bouncy balls and more.


Our USYers truly loved this activity and put a great deal of effort into creating the holiday cards.

Times Square Scavenger Hunt for Tikun Olam: This program was designed as a Saturday night program attached to our Chapter Shabbaton; USYers were welcome to join us for the program whether or not they had joined us for the Shabbaton. Our Social Actions/Tikun Olam VP created a list for a Scavenger Hunt in Times Square and split attendees into two teams. Completing each task was worth one point, but each team could wager up to three additional points per task based on their confidence in completing it (succeeding would gain the points, failing would lose them). Each point wagered cost $1 to be donated to Tikun Olam. USYers were directed to be sure to bring both money to be donated to Tikun Olam, a Metrocard, as getting into the city required taking a bus and a subway, and a camera, if possible. This program was one of the highlights of our year— everyone had a great time running around Times Square for two hours, and we raised over $120 for Tikun Olam in the process. Everyone who attended had an incredible time, despite the snow falling as we conducted the Scavenger Hunt.

NERUSY‐ Lexington USY in Lexington, MA Social Action Program: Havdallah Happening On January 15, 2011 Lexington USY teens hosted their annual Havdalah Happening, a night where the community invites adults with special needs for dinner and Havdalah. Lexington teens spend the night setting up, serving, cleaning, and entertaining their guests. The night is a tremendous success, teens broadened their horizons by spending time learning about people with special needs. Tikun Olam Program: PAPA On a Saturday night in December LUSY invited the community to join them in a night of Pasta and Preforming Arts to raise money for Tikun Olam. LUSY hosted a night for the entire Temple Emunah community to come out and preform on stage. From young 3rd graders to parents, everyone rocked the stage with everything from songs and dances to Potter Puppet Pals. It was great to give back to the community that supports our chapter. LUSY teens ran the event by manning the entrance, organizing the performances, and maintaining the event in general. Lexington USY brought back an old tradition for a successful event and are all set to make it an annual occurrence.

New Frontier‐ Palo Alto USY SA/TO event: Passover Overnight The Passover overnight was a sleepover in which we not only learned of inventive ways to eat without chameatz, but our chapter also was educated in ways to give back. The event went from a Saturday night to a Sunday morning, and in the morning the chapter had a meeting over breakfast. Over breakfast we discussed what we felt was the best way to help the world “tikkun olam”. We then discussed different positive ways we could help out, as well as which causes we thought were most pertinent to


the time. We then as a group decided which cause we wanted to give back too, focusing on ways to give back that were not solely based upon monetary donations. The group decided that donating to Japan was important and so we did research on ways that we could communicate or help out people who were suffering in Japan at the time.

Pinwheel‐ Seattle ACHIM in Mercer Island, WA Social Action Program Pan Can Walk For this event, the USYers volunteered to help out with the Pancreatic Cancer Walk in Seattle in honor of one of our members whose grandmother died of pancreatic cancer. He and his famly ran as the USYers worked different jobs such as setting up chairs and tables, cheering on the walkers, working at the sign‐in booth, and gathering survivors together for some photos. The event began at 9:00 am and it ended at 1:00 pm. The Pancreatic Cancer event committee really appreciated our help and in the future they hope that we will volunteer again. Tikun Olam Program USYers started the first half of the program with a great USY‐style Havdallah before ice skating, getting to know the newcomers we had as well as becoming closer with the ones we’ve known for so long, and enjoying a lot of the snacks that we had available such as jelly donuts, chips, and more. After the first half, we started our “White Elephant” gift exchange. USYers brought small, wrapped, gifts from home which were used in the game. Once all the gifts had been opened, you could “steal” a gift by paying $1 to SA/TO and forcing the other person to make the switch. We believed this was a different and interesting way to raise money for SA/TO.

Seaboard‐ B’nai Shalom in Olney, MD Social Action Program: Before Hannukah we had an event where we all got together and wrapped toys up to donate to charity. We each had to bring in unused toys that we wanted to donate. We all had a great time wrapping presents. We came to the event in casual attire, which in USY@BSO, is footie pajamas. We also got to eat Kosher Chinese Food from David Chu’s. We all had a good timeand enjoyed doing something good for the benefit of the community.

SWUSY‐ Agudas Achim in Austin Texas Tikun Olam Program: Every Sunday we had volunteers from our chapter sell bagels for Tikun Olam money. We set up a table right by the entrance to the Hebrew School wing with USY flyers and USY Summer Program flyers on the table. While we were selling bagels we were advertising for USY at the same time. We made a lot of profit from selling the bagels and we had our daily customers that loved when we sold bagels. We also made combos with juice boxes and hot chocolate. It was nice that every time that we sold bagels there


was a member from our chapter there to advertise for USY summer programs, for both wheels and pilgrimage. There was also a Tzedakah box on the table where customers could donate money also. Social Action‐ Chinese Food/Movie Night Age group for the program: USY and 8th grader What is the program type? Social Action Program – Wrapped Christmas presents for children’s wing at local hospital. Tikkun Olam Program – Used T.O. to vote for movie to watch. What is the cost? $18 How long does the program last? 3 hours How many people attended? 25 USYers and 8th graders USYers/8th graders attended the movie night at BSO. Each USYer/ 8th grader brought T.O. money as well as a toy for a donation. The USYers/8th graders used their T.O. to vote on which movie they would watch, and during the movie they wrapped presents in holiday wrapping for the children’s wing at a local hospital. USYers were also provided Chinese food in honor of the Jews on Christmas! Chinese Food/Movie Night Materials Needed • Movies • Tikkun Olam Money • Wrapping Paper • Age‐appropriate gifts • Kosher Chinese Food

usy international chapter of the year 2011 top programs · know each other better with ice...

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