[Written by Arielle Serwatien, Houston, TX]
Disclaimer: I walked onto the bus today questioning what could possibly be worth a three-hour bus ride but when we pulled up to the Grand Canyon and I wondered where the time had gone.

We began the day with our normal routine of davening, breakfast, and learning. We eagerly boarded the bus and the drive began. Everyone got to play music, games, and watch a movie as we moved along. A little after twelve we pulled up to grand canyon national park and got to meet our tour guides. Since we were such a big group we split into six and got to hike part of two trails.

Here are my first four thoughts as I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: Its vastness. Its age. How green and full of plants it was. And how nice the weather was.
It didn’t take long for the rest of the enormity of where we were to hit me. Our tour guide, Rich, led us down the Canyon on the Bright Angel trail pointing out Native American drawing and sharing random facts about foliage and history.

Next, we got to hike the rim walking up steep inclines to reach the perfect look out point. I would attempt to describe it but I feel that the English language stops short of describing the wonders we saw. I’m not even sure the pictures do it full justice.

The bus ride back to the hotel was just as fun though we did hit a slight bump when we got stuck in traffic. But watching fireworks from the bus and celebrating the Fourth of July all together was a party, the likes of which I’ve never experienced. When we got back our amazing staff was able to put together dinner at record speed so we could all eat, shower, and fall into bed exhausted yet exhilarated and grateful for air conditioning. Can’t wait to head to LA tomorrow!!!

[Written by Chani Kaminetzky, Boca Raton, FL]
Today on GIVE WEST was a jam-packed day filled with chesed, bonding, and fun. Following davening, breakfast, and chabburah, we headed to the Desert Mission Food Bank, where we split up into groups and assembly lines. Some girls packaged animal food, some unpacked and repacked Oreos, and some broke down all the boxes for recycling. In front of the warehouse was a mini shop for people to come to who could not afford food for themselves or their families. All different types of people were guided around the shop and filled their carts with food that they would otherwise be lacking. I was walking around with a couple and distributing food to them. The older man complimented us on how modestly we were dressed and how incredible it was to see. We responded by explaining that as part of our religion we dress modestly and then we went on to explain GIVE WEST and our mission. He became extremely interested when we told them that we were Jewish. He went on to explain how his family was in the Spanish Inquisition and had lost their connection to Judaism. They are slowly retracing their roots of their religion. These are the types of extraordinary conversations we encounter on GIVE WEST while interacting with a diverse group of people. Thank you, Mom and Abba for giving me this amazing opportunity to give back while gaining a tremendous amount.

[Written by Emma Freiden, Boca Raton, Florida]
This afternoon on GIVE WEST we went to hike Butcher Jones. We saw views that will stay with us forever. After a long and exciting hike around the Saguaro Lake, we all ran and jumped straight into the refreshing lake water, disregarding the dirt around us 🙂 Even when we were drying off we would find ways to have fun. On our long bus ride back we shared together meaningful thoughts of our day, watched movies, and just hang out. Once we arrived back at the hotel we had time to chill, swim, and shower. Then we went to Mincha, dinner and a fun night activity. We played Minute to Win It, with just one minute to complete each fun task. We were split into two teams and competed with one another. After the game, we enjoyed a delicious ice cream party for Tamar Erlbaum’s Hebrew Birthday! And with some time left we prepared for the next amazing day to come. As our heads hit the pillow, we each feel great satisfaction from another accomplished day on GIVE WEST!

[Written by Batsheva Rabinowitz, Silver Spring, Maryland]
What an amazing Sunday on GIVE WEST! After davening, breakfast and chabburah this morning at the hotel, we headed to a homeless shelter, St. Vincent De Paul, in a highly populated homeless section of Arizona. At the homeless shelter, we scooped ice cream, prepared popcorn, brought food to people outside of the shelter, to those who were not able to come in. After we prepared the food trays, we brought the food to the people who came in for lunch, and we served the food to them. Once we finished serving, we sat down and spoke to people and heard their stories, about how they became homeless or why they were at the shelter, or just to hear what they wanted to say. There was an older man who was talking to us about understanding the concept that people are not homeless, they are suffering from homelessness. Which makes it easier to talk to them as people instead of scary homeless people on the street. We spoke to the security man who used to suffer from homelessness and put his life back together by volunteering at the shelter, got a job there, and he now helps by giving back to others in his previous state. Thank you Mom & Dad for letting me go on this program, I learned a lot already and it’s only the beginning!

[Written by Racheli Perl, Bala Cynwyd, PA]
Today, after we finished our chessed project at the homeless shelter, we went hiking in Sedona, AZ. We hiked up the Bell Rock while listening to music and taking pictures along the way. We stopped along the way to take in the views and take more pictures. The views were breathtaking and gorgeous!!! After that, we headed back to the hotel and had some free time before dinner. Everyone was doing different things — we had the option of going swimming, showering, chilling, learning, which many of us did and it was really fun!! Then we davened mincha and ate a delicious dinner before we had Night Activity. For Night Activity we played a game called Panoply, which is a game where we split into teams and were assigned different tasks to complete within a time limit. It was a lot of fun, very interactive, and a great way to meet new girls. Now we are going to bed to get a good night’s sleep before a fun filled day tomorrow. Have a good night!!!

Shabbos on GIVE WEST was brought in early with a beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat and Friday Night dinner filled with delicious food, singing, and new friends. Dinner was followed by a session with our advisors exploring the theme of our first Shabbos, Bein Adam L’Makom, our relationship with Hashem. The session was followed by a yummy tisch, where we schmoozed, sang, and bonded some more. Shabbos morning began with davening, Parsha, and kiddush! We played another ice-breaker game called Fruit Bowl, where we shared facts about ourselves in a fun and interactive game. We switched things up a bit at lunch where we had different colored cups at every table and everyone had to rearrange their seats to sit by their colored cup so everyone was able to move around and get to know new girls. With new friends, we delved deeper into the Shabbos theme, learning more about Hashem in our lives and discussing it with our friends and advisors. We had some free time and then an hour of Beit Midrash time, where the girls were able to learn with their advisors – and what a hit it was! The girls enthusiastically chose books to learn with their friends and advisors, the room was buzzing with learning. Following that, we divided into groups and discussed the essentials required to build a Jewish community and what it means to be an American Jew as opposed to a Jewish American. Seudat Shilishit was followed by a beautiful “Ebbing” circle and Havdala to close the amazing and inspirational first Shabbos on GIVE WEST. Everyone came down dressed up and ready to dance this Motzei Shabbos for our first GIVE WEST Chagigah and Melava Malka! Dancing and eating was followed by a slow kumzitz, around “GW” in lights. Inspired, exhausted, and happy, everyone is sound asleep ready and pumped for another amazing day in the Arizona sun!

Friday on GIVE WEST began with our first chesed at Salvation Army. We learned about the international organization and specifically the work that they are involved in within Arizona, helping people in the extreme heat. We then wrote and decorated over 2,000 motivational and inspirational cards to be put in school bags that are given out to children in poverty-stricken communities. Delicious early lunch was brought to us so that we were able to have plenty of time at Big Surf water park before Shabbos. After two hours of great water fun, we headed to Walmart for a quick stop for any necessities and some snacks. We headed back to the hotel to prepare for our first Shabbos on GIVE WEST in Phoenix, Arizona!!

Welcome to NCSY GIVE WEST 2017!
Can you believe it?! It’s here! All of the NCSY GIVE WEST planes landed safely today at Phoenix International Airport and the summer is finally underway. Once all of the NCSYers were shuttled to the GreenTree Inn in Phoenix, we were greeted with a delicious lunch and Human Bingo Ice-Breaker! Learning about each other was fun and easy in this interactive game. We then had free time in the afternoon getting to know each other, swimming in the pool, chilling around the hotel, and unpacking our things. We joined back together for GIVE WEST Orientation and a yummy dinner, followed by an amazing game of NCSY GIVE WEST Speed Dating. We ended the night early giving everyone time to unpack and rest up for our exciting day tomorrow filled with chesed and fun in the Phoenix sun. A big thank you to Nachi & Chani Cooper for the yummy food today and to all of our amazing NCSY GIVE WEST advisors and staff for their enthusiasm and help. We cannot wait for Day #2!

At the GIVE WEST banquet tonight, two NCSYers shared reflections from their summer experience here on GIVE WEST. Read them here and be inspired as well! THANKS YOU ALL FOR READING!

Speech #1: Mattie Lefcoe (Virginia Beach, VA)

Earlier this year I was talking to one of my very close friends about my summer plans and what I wanted to do. Last summer she went on a cross country trip with her mom and said verbatim “everyone is always traveling to different countries when our country is beautiful on its own.” I never really looked at it from that perspective of that I have such Bracha right in front of my eyes and instead of focusing on that I always saw what I didn’t have. A little while after I had this conversation with her my parents won the ncsy Purim GIVE raffle which means I’m on this trip by the grace of Hashem for free. I took this as a sign that Hashem wanted me to see his wonders that I so called took for granted. When I got here and started traveling and seeing all the amazing things we’ve seen I realized that the experiences of the west coast wasn’t something I took for granted rather than what I have in my everyday life. As many of you know for a while during the trip I was having some phone complications – thank you ima and abba for all your help – yes it was an inconvenience and annoying to not be in touch with my friends but I was forced to look out my window literally and see all the amazing things I would’ve missed if I did have my phone. Don’t get me wrong I was totally okay with getting my phone back. I know that midnight mission was an experience that none of us will ever forget but I want to talk about what it meant to me. As I was leaving when the 11th and 12th grade went I over heard girls saying it was fun and they had such a good time, things like that. It got me thinking about how I felt about the whole thing. Leora Suissa can definitely vouch for the fact that I pretty much almost lost it the whole time we were there. Seeing the pain in some people’s eyes vs. seeing the strength in others. I went from wanting to cry tears of pain to wanting to cry tears of happiness based on the strength I saw in some of these people. When I left I was in pain because I had heard about this part of the world but I never really knew it to be true until I saw it for myself. I don’t like to think of myself of someone who takes things for granted because I know that everything is from Hashem and she’asi li kol tzarki everything I have I need and everything I need I have. Before GIVE I never really had an appreciation for chessed the same way I do now. It inspired me so much everyday to see everyone with bright smiles excited to help others and when I go home I really want to do more for my community. I saw this summer right before my eyes that one small gesture can make a difference for someone’s day.

And while I’m Talking about people who made a difference in everyone’s days Leah, Adina, Rina, Shayna, Yehudis, Daniella, Isaac, Sara, and achron achron chaviv Leah you guys literally made this summer the best summer ever so when ncsy was making the shirts and bags they were talking about u guys.
If I had the time I could go around and say something about everyone and how they made my experience here special and honestly it comes down to the girls who were here. Every morning I would wake up and thank god for the amazing new friends I have. I have learned so many things from everyone whether it was how to dab, how to say Cinamon in Hebrew, or how to sleep for 6 hours at most every night and still be a functional person the next day – well kind of. My point being that I have formed friendships and bonds here that some people aren’t even fortunate enough to experience in their whole lives and to make it even more amazing I got to know all of u and spend time with all of u while having the time of my life.

Speech #2: Eliana Raskas (Silverspring, Maryland)

There is a Hebrew saying אל תסתכל בקנקן אלה במה שיש בו ; we are not supposed to look at the outside of a jar but rather what is inside the jar. Whenever anything new in life comes about, it is very easy for me to judge on a superficial basis without knowing what’s on the inside. Give West has taught me that the inside is what really matters regarding both new friends and the Chesed we did. Over the course of this summer at a few of the Chesed opportunities, the people leading the program for us, had previously served time in jail. Once they revealed that to us, my initial reaction was to distance myself from them. However, after seeing an inmate at the LA food kitchen, and Carlos from midnight mission, and how both of them turned themselves around and made themselves such better people after their time in jail, my perspective changed. Those men were a lot more than just their jail record. They were men who transformed themselves and became such better people on the inside and I can learn so much from them. If they can completely change themselves on the inside then I can take small steps to improve myself and my way of treating others. However, this idea regarding judging based on what is in the inside is not only about people; it was also very relevant for our Chesed activities. Remember places like the midnight mission or the old age home where a lot of us were not so excited before we went in. Some people like me were nervous and overwhelmed. However, once we had done the activities, we all felt super accomplished and felt like we had achieved so much. This new perspective which we gained through doing Chesed, is one that will stay with us forever.

As our favorite song from give west says:
העושה מצוה אחת קטנה בשמחה
יגלגלו לו לעשות מצוה גדולה מהראשונה

Someone who does one small Mitzvah gets a little bit of happiness; but it will lead him to do a mitzvah greater than the first one. I feel that all these small Mitzvahs that we have been doing throughout Give West, will lead all of us to make a greater difference and to do even more Chesed.This program is hopefully just the beginning of our life of giving.

But these Chesed activities and touring would not have been possible without all of you .You all added so much to my summer and made it a truly amazing summer for me. I really cherish all the friendships I made and really hope we all keep in touch.
We are all also super lucky to have had an incredible staff that really saw us for who we were on the inside. They all saw the greatest potential in us and helped bring it out over the course of this summer.

To our 5 amazing advisors: You guys are the best!!! You made amazing Chaburas that taught us all so much and it was so fun to chill with all of you this summer.

To the best assistant director, Sarah: Thank you for making incredible rooms, leading inspiring shabbos discussion topics and groups, and for always just being around to talk to.

To Daniella and Isaac: Thanks for being such a devoted camp mom and dad. The food was amazing throughout all of camp and thanks for just being there to talk to and listen to all of our food requests!!!

To Leah, the most incredible director I could have asked for: you were such an inspiration to all of us throughout the whole entire summer! Your amazing shiurium, your inspiring stories, and your time and devotion is really what made this summer one of the most inspiring Summer’s for me.

Overall, I would like to thank the entire staff as for making this the Best.Summer Ever.

So my Bracha to all of us is that we look not on the outside of the jar but on the inside. That we don’t just judge and look at things by their cover. It is looking inside of people and only judging after truly experiencing that will help make the world a better place. Hopefully, all of us will continue to increasingly take on more Chesed challenges wherever we are, so that together, we can take on the challenge of making this world a better place.

We can’t believe that today was the last day on GIVE WEST. The day started out early in the morning as we boarded the buses to Deschutes River Rafting! The white water rafting was a blast — the perfect last activity of the summer. We got wet, bonded, and swam through the rapids as well! After drying off and a yummy lunch outside, we headed back to Portland, changed, and got right back on the bus for the GIVE WEST banquet! After a delicious meal in the JCC, the advisors presented each GIVE WESTer with a super cool GIVE WEST zip-up, after reflecting about some of their greatest accomplishments this summer and most admirable character traits. The night ended with a re-cap video, chagigah, and tons of pictures (of course!) as we said goodbye to all of our new GIVE WEST friends. This summer has been unbelievable, inspirational, and SO MUCH FUN. Thank you all for reading our daily blog, coming on this trip, and we cannot wait for summer 2017 to begin!!!!!