Friday on GIVE USA was a crazy-fun day filled with color war activities and competitions! The three teams impressed the judges with their amazing dvar torahs, creative songs, awesome dances, and their overall ruach and fun! We also had a variety of competitive sports, swim races and a brachot bee! Congratulations to the winning team, the red team! We then headed to the Pico-Robertson community of LA where we split into groups to spend Shabbos at different homes in the community. Thank you to all of our hosts for so graciously housing us. We davened mincha and maariv together at Adas Torah and then ate Friday night dinner at our host’s homes. Shabbos morning we regrouped for shacharis at Adas Torah. Following davening and a Kiddush, we had an informal learning session where we split into groups and went over a discussion-style chaburah about loving our fellow Jews. We then played a spirited game of family feud – GIVE USA West style! We then had lunch all together in the shul, and then some Shabbos relaxation time. Girls hung out at their hosts’s homes, visited friends, walked around the neighborhood, played games, or learned. We gathered together at the Abramczik’s (Aunt and Uncle of our very own camper, Bina Weiss!) home for a beautiful shaloshudes. After hearing some divrei torah from R’ Abramczik, we ebbed Shabbos away with song. After Havdallah we set off to the third street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica. It was an exciting area and we spent some time shopping, getting coffee, and hanging out. We then returned back to our host’s homes for the evening.

Sunday morning we met up at the shul for davening and breakfast. We then boarded the busses and headed to the Reagan Museum. It was very interesting and informative, and we even got to tour the inside of Ronald Reagan’s personal plane! It was then time for our big road trip of the week! We set off to Fresno, where we are now. LA was amazing, and we were sad to leave but are looking forward to so many more awesome places that are coming up! We had dinner in Fresno at the chabad house, led by Rabbi and Mrs Zirkin. Mrs. Zirkin cooked us a delicious dinner, and we were all fascinated to learn about their life here in Fresno, and the work that they do. Back at our hotel we had a late-night chaburah learning session and then optional night swim in the hotel pool! After such a long day we all headed off to bed, ready to catch some sleep. Looking forward to a great week ahead!!

Give USA had an amazing day today! We started off our morning bright and early and arrived at the L.A Food Bank. We spent the next few hours there sorting through donated food, throwing out damaged goods, as well as packaging and boxing the food. At the end of our time there they told us that over the course of the morning we had helped package about 2,000 lbs of bread and 10,000 pounds of food! We were all so happy we were given this incredible opportunity to make a beautiful Kiddush Hashem, and we definitely had fun doing it! After such a productive morning we headed off to Malibu Beach. We had lunch and chaburahs on a beautiful little “cove” off of the beach, and then headed down to the actual beach. We spent some time there splashing in the waves, tanning, learning, burying each other in the sand, and just relaxing! We then went to Pizza World for a great dinner. Afterwards we headed off to Comedy Sportz- a hilarious comedy show! It was interactive, so we all had a great time calling out suggestions to the actors on stage. The show was improv style and the performers kept us laughing out loud the entire time. When the show ended we went to board the bus, but it was nowhere to be found. What had happened to Mary and our bus? Leah and Ayelet then told us a whole concocted story about how Mary had left us. After a few moments of confusion and chaos, the bus turned up bearing a large banner that read…COLOR WAR!!! Cheering and screaming we boarded the bus and found out the schedule for color war. The three teams –red (heart), white (purity) and blue (spirituality), represent the colors of Give USA, and are perfectly apropos for tomorrow- July 4! With a special extended curfew, the girls spent the next few hours preparing their dances, skits, and songs for tomorrow. We are all so looking forward to an exciting day of races, competitions and lots of Give USA fun! Good night!

Day 8 on Give USA was a super fun-filled one! We set off for Universal Studios (!!!) this morning and spent our day there. Everyone had an incredible time at the park. There were awesome roller coasters, interesting and cool special effects demonstrations, an amazing studio tour, water shows and tons of other fun attractions. From there we headed to Chick n’ Chow for a delicious dinner of Chinese food.  After dinner, we drove to the famous Hollywood Boulevard and saw the well-known Chinese theatre as well as the Hollywood Walk of Stars. We spent some time there walking around and seeing all the names of the celebrities on the ground. Some girls also went up to a special observation point from which you can see the iconic Hollywood sign. We are having a really great time in LA and cannot wait for another exciting day tomorrow!

Day Seven on GIVE USA West was magical. We headed out of AJU early this morning to our first chesed activity. Hidden in the heart of LA, stands the Kosher Palate Food Truck, run by Michele Grant. GIVE USA West chopped, diced, grilled, broiled and boiled food to make veggie wraps for the needy. After spending time making this gourmet food for the needy, we also made delicious salads for ourselves to eat for lunch! Two huge salads filled with our own grilled veggies and checked lettuce (thanks to Gary)! After eating by the food truck, we headed out to Rodeo Drive. Walking up and down the beautiful street, opened our eyes to the true “LA Fashion” and style. Soon after we arrived on Rodeo Drive, we left to our second chesed activity of the day-The Midnight Mission. This was a life changing event for us all. We all headed into The Midnight Mission building timid and unaware of what we were all about to experience. Sean Conally, our tour guide, lead us through the gorgeous facility of the homeless shelter and rehabilitation rooms. He then lead us into the kitchen – where over 800 homeless people were soon to come through the doors looking for delicious food to satiate themselves. All of us divided into groups: servers, cleaners, drink distribution and the kitchen crew. As we served the homeless, our eyes were open to a world none of us have ever experienced before. We were not in a Jewish environment, we were not serving Jewish people this time-but the act of giving has no bounds. We realized after spending time at The midnight Mission that we are all people and we all just need help sometimes. Just as the food is a necessity to survive in the physical world, chesed is a necessity to survive in the Jewish world. We left appreciative for every morsel of food that we have, our homes and families. The people we served thanked us graciously for our time there, but we left thanking them for opening up our eyes to all the goodness we have in our own lives. After The Midnight Mission experience, we headed off to Santa Monica Pier where we enjoyed a delicious dinner from LA Burger Bar! After dinner we enjoyed free time on the Pier (and on all of the rides!). We even met a real live celebrity! After this incredible day, many girls attended the first GIVE USA West TTN: ‘Torah Tuesday Night’ (lead by advisor Sarah Lederer). The girls who attended enjoyed an optional learning session, discussed topics that they were passionate and curious about and enjoyed each others company. It was a great way to end the day. Cannot wait for Universal Studios tomorrow!

Today was an incredibly jam-packed day! We started off our morning with davening, breakfast, Chaburahs and then we watched the first Give USA West recap video! We then hit the buses and headed out toward our first chesed activity!! We spent some time at the Garden of Palms Assisted Living Facility doing arts and crafts with the residents. The elderly people were so happy to have us and we all loved getting to know them. The girls left the activity with a sense of accomplishment and the gratifying feeling of having done something truly special and meaningful. Then we went off to The Grove and had some relaxation time there shopping and hanging out. Afterwards, we set off to the Museum of Tolerance. We were given a comprehensive tour of the museum and learned a lot of interesting history as well as some important information about tolerance in general. From there we drove to the Dodger’s Stadium where we had an amazing dinner from Schnitzly’s and then we headed into the game. We spent the next few hours cheering and screaming for the Dodger’s and trying (unsuccessfully) to make it on to the Jumbotron. The game was an exciting one and our Give spirit probably helped the Dodger’s win! Back at the AJU we went off to bed, exhausted from a long, but fulfilling day!

Friday was our first long road trip and we pulled it off in an awesome Give USA West fashion! We left Phoenix in the morning and headed out on our way to San Diego. We stopped off at a Walmart in Yuma and had a fun photo challenge there! We then drove the rest of the way to our hotel. We got ready for Shabbos and went to the Beth Jacob of San Diego for davening. The community was very welcoming and we had a nice Shabbos dinner in the shul, which we finished off with a candy-filled oneg! Shabbos morning we were back at shul for davening (Mazal Tov Jacob on your bar mitzvah)! We had lunch in the shul and then we split into informal groups for an amazing learning session about finding our own identity. We played a hilarious ice-breaker game of ‘fruit salad’ which everyone really enjoyed. Afterwards, we had some free time and the girls were able to schmooze, hang out and learn. After Shalosh Seudos, we had our first NCSY ebbing and then Havdala. Motzai Shabbos marked our first movie night, where we watched Frozen (singing along of course!), and had an ice cream Melava Malka. Thank you so much to our Shabbos guests; Vivian and David Luchins (NCSY summer chair and OU senior VP, dean at Touro, Ben Zakkai Committee), Isabelle and David Novak (Chair of the Ben Zakkai committee), and Sarah and Eli Klugman (Director of recruitment, Lander College for Women) for enriching our weekend. Sunday morning we set out bright and early for the zoo. We spent the day touring the beautiful San Diego Zoo. We saw tons of exotic animals, rode a “skyfari” and took the tour bus around the park. We then drove to LA to Pizza World for a Mexican themed dinner! Afterwards we headed out to our newest lodgings – the American Jewish University. For night activity we made posters for the Dodgers game we are attending tomorrow, as well as receiving super-awesome Give USA (road trip-style) trucker hats! After such a long day we set off to bed, with everyone really looking forward to our first day in LA!!!

Day Two of Give USA was incredibly packed and fun! We started off the morning with an orientation where lots of materials regarding this summer’s programs were given out. Everyone was really excited to receive the summer’s itinerary, along with other important GIVE info.  We then broke into our chaburah groups, and had our first learning session of the summer! Each chaburah will be learning four different chaburot on five different parts of a mishnah. After some free time and lunch we headed out to our big event of the day – tubing on the Salt Lake River! We braved the 108 degree heat (covered in sun screen and well hydrated of course) and set off on our journey. We cruised along the beautiful river amidst gorgeous desert scenery – complete with mountains, cacti and even some stray horses! – and had a blast!! We then went back to Segal’s restaurant where they set out a yummy Chinese buffet for us. Back at Scottsdale suites we played “minute to win it”, an awesome and hilarious night activity. After such a long fun-filled day we set off to bed. We can’t believe we’re leaving Arizona aleady but are so excited to hit up San Diego tomorrow!! Destination 2, here we come!!

Wow! What a great first day to start off what is sure to be an incredible summer! We greeted the girls at the Phoenix airport this morning, with lots of welcome signs and Give USA spirit!! We then took our bus (shout out to our awesome bus driver Mary!) to our first destination- Scottsdale Suites! We had a delicious lunch and then got to know each other with an ice breaker – a fun game of human bingo! After some relaxation time we gathered together to launch our #bringbackourboys campaign where we recited some tehillim and made signs. We then headed out to Segal’s restaurant for a yummy meat buffet dinner. Upon returning to our hotel, the advisors presented the Give USA theme song along with a dance. To finish off our day we had a second ice breaker game – speed dating, Give USA style! Finally, we headed to our rooms for some much needed sleep! Looking forward to day 2!!