International Chapter of the Year Award Application

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1 International Chapter of the Year Award Application Please fill out the information below using 12 point font Times New Roman. No graphics or borders please. Region: Chapter: Hanefesh BEBLUSY Please list the following: Total USY Membership as of June 30 th (BEBLUSY was newly formed in August of 2012). Total USY Membership as of June 30 th How many 6 th graders are in your synagogue religious school? 5 How many 6 th graders from your synagogue are in Jewish Day schools? 0 Total Tikun Olam monies raised between July 1 st 2011 and June 30 th (BEBLUSY was newly formed in August of 2012). Total Tikun Olam monies raised between July 1 st 2012 and June 30 th 2013 $ Per Capita Tikun Olam Total between July 1 st 2011 and June 30 th (BEBLUSY was newly formed in August of 2012). Per Capita Tikun Olam Total between July 1 st 2012 and June 30 th 2013 $5.26 Did your chapter allocate its Tikun Olam money? Yes The Koopman Library, in West Hartford, CT.

2 Chapter Board 1. List and describe in 1 sentence all Executive Board positions. President Oversees the officers, and runs board meetings. Executive VP Takes over for Pres if not there; handles regalia and COE app. Rel/Ed VP Integrates Jewish aspects into chapter events. IA/Prog VP Integrates Israel aspects into chapter events. SA/TO VP Integrates SA/TO aspects into chapter events. Mem/Kad VP Helps build membership and coordinates ice-breakers Comm VP Utilizes various social media, snail-mail, texting and to enhance communication among USYers, and reach out to potential members. 2. Does your chapter have a General Board or any yearlong committees? We do not yet have a General Board per se, but we welcome all of our USY members to participate in monthly meetings (except for executive sessions) and play an active part in helping the officers perform their duties. 3. List an approximate number of board meetings held per year Is your Youth Director/Advisor full time or part time? Part-time. 5. Are there any other staff members in addition to your Youth Director/Advisor? No.

3 Chapter Activity and Programming 1. List 15 chapter programs held in the past year with a 1-sentence description of each program. 1. Chapter Kickoff Bar-B-Q with Frisbee, Volleyball, and Music. 2. Shul-In Overnight Movies, games, music, and a full breakfast. 3. Pizza in the Hut Slices in the Sukkah. 4. Apple-Picking & Corn Maze Day Trip to Lyman Orchards 5. Hanukkah Extravaganza Baked and decorated dreidel-shaped cookies; cooked latkes; played dreidel and did Hanukkah trivia. 6. Latke Cook-off Contest where members brought their best recipes and cooked head-2-head; judged by blind tasting. 7. Laser Tag Trip to LaserQuest 8. UConn Basketball Attended the Rutgers/UConn game at the XL Center in Hartford. 9. Matisyahu Concert Attended the Matisyahu concert at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford. 10. Purim Pancake Party & Carnival Cooked pancakes, performed a spiel for the Hebrew School kids, and helped man booths at the Synagogue s Carnival. 11. SATO Concession Stand Sold Kosher food items to the Cub Scout Pack who rented the synagogue for their Pinewood Derby event; proceeds were used for Tikkun-Olam. 12. PB Jam Made 600 PB&J sandwiches for local shelters while listening to music. 13. Lag B Omer event Created musical instruments that were sent to Israel for the special needs programs there. 14. Member Appreciation Dinner & Elections Had a Cinco De Mayo themed dinner for Kadima & USY members, and held chapter elections. 15. Memorial Day Parade Marched in the West Hartford parade carrying a USY banner. 2. List the average number of attendance at each chapter program. About 20. (We invite other chapters and local Jewish teens to most of our events.) 3. List approximate number of programs or events per month List the number of Regional Conventions held per year and attendance from your chapter. 1. Fall Kinnus 12 - (63% of chapter) 2. International Convention in Boston 10 (53% of chapter). 3. Spring Convention 11 (58% of chapter).

4 In 200 words or less per topic, please describe your best: Israel Program Yom Yerushalayim! We had almost 30 teens attend our Jerusalem Day celebration. We all dressed in blue & white (or clothes with Hebrew on it). The event started with Israeli dancing and music, followed by a discussion about the IDF (each person shared how they feel about the obligation to serve, and whether they would like to serve in the IDF). Then, we made a ga-ga (Israeli dodgeball) pit out of tables and played that for a while. The event ended with a meal of dates, figs, olives, hummus, falafel, tabouli, tehina, and pita, then we benched with a ton of ruach. Rel/Ed Program Giving Back with a Beat BEBLUSY partnered with Jewish Teen Learning Connection and Friendship Circle (a group for Jewish youth with special needs) for an awesome event. The event began with a speaker who talked about the special needs programs in Israel, and we did activities that helped us better understand what it might be like for people with special needs. Then, we were joined by several members of the special needs program. We got to choose from several different raw wood instruments that had been designed by University of Hartford art students, specifically for this event. We used paint and other items to decorate the instruments, and they were gathered so that they could be sent to a special needs program in Israel. Social Action Program PBJam BEBLUSY invited youth from other chapters, as well as other local Jewish teens, to take part in a very special social action event. Chapter members spent several weeks obtaining donations of peanut butter & jelly from several local markets, businesses, synagogue members, and JCC members. About 30 teens came together the day of the event, and prepared 600 PB&J sandwiches, which were brought to different shelters in the Hartford area immediately after the event. The turnout was amazing, and every person felt great knowing their efforts were directly helping those in need. Tikun Olam Program Concession Stand Our synagogue donates space to a couple of the local Cub Scout groups so that they may hold their annual Pinewood Derby event. With at least 150 hungry people in attendance, BEBLUSY prepares food and provides a kosher concession stand (hot dogs, popcorn, drinks, candy, etc.)

5 and proceeds are used for our Tikkun-Olam donation. The families of the scouts really appreciate our offering this service, and it s an excellent opportunity for us to share our group with other community organizations. We allocated our Tikkun-Olam donations to the local Jewish library The Koopman Library. Social Program Shul-In BEBLUSY invited Jewish teens from other chapters, Hebrew High School of New England, and other local groups. With more than 50 teens in attendance, BEBLUSY hosted a huge overnight experience that started with a beautiful Havdalah Service, and then included several movies on the big screen, glow-in-the-dark Ultimate Frisbee, music, dancing, hanging out in the lounge, cooking, and a HUGE breakfast. We didn t spend much time sleeping, but everybody left in the morning asking when the next shul-in would happen. We gained a couple of members that night, and the event seemed to show people a very social side of USY that they hadn t expected. Due in large part to this event, we received the Challah Award for Excellence in Social Programming from USY International (signed by Joshua Ull & Ethan Shapiro).

6 Kadima Involvement with the USY Chapter Do you have a Kadima Chapter? Kadima Advisor? If yes, is he or she Full time/part time/also your USY advisor? Kadima Board? If yes, what positions? Yes, we have a Kadima chapter. The Kadima Advisor is part-time, and there is no Kadima board. Describe in 200 words or less the relationship between your USY and Kadima Chapters. (If you do not have a Kadima Chapter, please write No Kadima Chapter ) We invited the Kadima chapter to participate in a handful of our USY events. They were invited to our Chapter Kickoff BBQ event, one of our movie night events ( The Frisco Kid ), our UConn basketball outing, our Hanukkah Extravaganza, the Membership Appreciation Dinner, and of course, the Purim Carnival. Our Mem/Kad (and some of the other board members) also went to a few of the Kadima events. The Kadima 8 th graders were also invited to participate in all of our USY Spring events. Communication Describe in 300 words or less your chapter s means of communications. (For example, USY Chapter Yellow Pages, Chapter Newsletters, Chapter Webpage, listserv, phone calls, etc.) BEBLUSY uses several means of communication such as Facebook, web pages, synagogue weekly e-blasts and monthly bulletins, texting, and flyers. Through our Facebook page ( and the Hanefesh regional Facebook group, we can create event pages and send out information about the chapter. We have several web pages on the synagogue web site ( including an events page, a Google calendar page (which can be downloaded to smart phones, tablets, and computers), an online application page (for paperless registration), and a games page (just for fun and to entice people to visit our web pages). Please view the included samples of our upcoming events flyers, and event flyers. Feel free to include up to THREE samples of any Newsletters, phone call trees, Flyers, etc. (If any sample is longer than one page, i.e. chapter newsletter, please include a sample of up to three 8.5 x11 pages) Please see included sample documentation.

7 USY International Chapter of the Year Award Signature Page I hereby submit this chapter for consideration for the International Chapter of the Year Award. By signing this document, I agree that all information provided in this application is true to the best of my knowledge and understand that the application is subject to removal at the digression of the International Executive Board if false information is found. I testify that this document and its contents was compiled and completed only by the USYers of this chapter. Chapter President: Adam Cohen (Executive VP) Chapter Youth Director/Advisor: Phil Cohen Synagogue Youth Chair: N/A Regional Youth Director: Emily Berkowitz Synagogue Rabbi: Rabbi Debra Cantor

USY Laser Tag Saturday, January 12 ~ 6:00PM 8:00PM ~ at Laser

by January 5 Kadima Laser Tag Sunday, January 20 ~ 1:30PM

all others RSVP by January 10 UConn Basketball vs Rutgers

$18 (regularly $33) - Payment MUST be received by January 4

Westport Hanefesh Regional USY Event Kadima Snow Tubing

Kadima Event MATISYAHU Concert Sunday, February 17 ~ 6:00PM ~

by January 2 Purim Carnival Sunday, February 24 ~ Noon ~ at

3 ~ Noon ~ at B nai Tikvoh-Sholom USY provides Kosher

information Contact: Phil Cohen studiokdj@aol.

8 USY Laser Tag Saturday, January 12 ~ 6:00PM 8:00PM ~ at Laser Quest Cost: $18 for BEBLUSY members / $23 for all others RSVP by January 5 Kadima Laser Tag Sunday, January 20 ~ 1:30PM 3:30PM ~ at Laser Quest Cost: $18 for Kadima members / $23 for all others RSVP by January 10 UConn Basketball vs Rutgers Sunday, January 27 ~ 2:00PM tipoff ~ at the XL Center Cost: $18 (regularly $33) - Payment MUST be received by January 4 USY SA/TO Dance & Overnight Saturday-Sunday, February 2-3 ~ in Westport Hanefesh Regional USY Event Kadima Snow Tubing Sunday, February 10 ~ at Woodbury Ski Area Hanefesh Regional Kadima Event MATISYAHU Concert Sunday, February 17 ~ 6:00PM ~ at the Bushnell Auditorium Cost: $30 Payment MUST be received by January 2 Purim Carnival Sunday, February 24 ~ Noon ~ at Beth El USY Concession Stand & SA/TO Fundraiser Sunday, March 3 ~ Noon ~ at B nai Tikvoh-Sholom USY provides Kosher concessions for the Pinewood Derby Cub Scout event For more information Contact: Phil Cohen studiokdj@aol.com Check us out on the web at: or visit us at:

Short Havdala Service Israeli Activities

Movie & Popcorn Sunday Breakfast Pick up 9:00AM

Inflatable Mattress (optional) Flashlight Money

9 A Event Sat - Sun, Sept Hosted by BTS Saturday Drop off 8:00PM Short Havdala Service Israeli Activities Glow-in-the-Dark Frisbee Giant Twister Game Movie & Popcorn Sunday Breakfast Pick up 9:00AM COST: $15 Things to bring: Sleeping Bag Pillow Inflatable Mattress (optional) Flashlight Money for T/O Questions? Contact: Phil Cohen - StudioKDJ@aol.com B nai Tikvoh Sholom (860)

PBJam Hosted by BEBLUSY Sunday, March 17 th 2:00 pm - 4:00

Organized by the BEBLUSY Chapter of United Synagogue Youth

Beth El Temple, B nai Tikvoh-Sholom, JT Connect and the

10 PBJam Hosted by BEBLUSY Sunday, March 17 th 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Mandell JCC 335 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford ALL SANDWICHES GO TO LOCAL SHELTERS! RECEIVE COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS! Organized by the BEBLUSY Chapter of United Synagogue Youth (USY), Jewish teens will come together to make sandwiches for local shelters. Peanut butter and jelly donations can be dropped off at Beth El Temple, B nai Tikvoh-Sholom, JT Connect and the JCC. Come join your friends from USY, BBYO, NFTY, NCSY, and JT Connect to make sandwiches, listen to music, and have fun! Special thanks to our event partners:

International Chapter of the Year Award

International Chapter of the Year Award Application Region: EMTZA Chapter: Beth El Rishon USY (BERUSY) Please list the following: Total USY Membership as of June 30 th 2012: 44 Total USY Membership as