Summer 2019

Today was another amazing day on GIVE West. We volunteered at City Team and helped them with many different projects. All of us split up into four groups to help with warehouse work, kitchen prep, veggies cleaning, and donation sorting. We thought that this chesed was super fun and we are glad that we got to help so many people. After an amazing morning chesed, we drove to get some FREE Slurpees since today was 7/11 Free Slurpee Day. We then made a stop at the Jelly Belly Factory.
The jelly belly factory was an incredible experience. We got to see how jelly beans were created and the long process of the formation of each individual jelly bean. The sorting of the colors, the mixtures, the different colors and so much more. At the end of the tour, we were each given a small pack of Jelly Belly’s. There was a really cute gift shop and place to try out three samples of the very diverse jelly belly flavors. Aaaaand we went for a second time to get free Slurpees at 7/11!!
For dinner, we went to another Chabad house. The food was amazing and so was the family. It’s incredible what these people do for the community and how they spread Judaism. Today was a great day on GIVE West and we can’t wait for tomorrow!

Mikayla, Canada
Sarah, Canada

Today on GIVE West was one of the most amazing and jam-packed days of the summer! We started off the day by walking across the famous Golden Gate Bridge and saw the beautiful sight of San Francisco. After we spent some time at the gift shop, we hopped onto the bus and headed toward Union Square. We walked around the stores and met at the trolly station to catch the trolly up (and down!) to Ghiradelli Square, where we got some yummy chocolate. We then had time to walk through Fisherman’s Warf, bought souvenirs, and FINALLY found a kosher Ben and Jerry’s!! Afterward, we drove to the Chabad of Berkley, California and heard from Rebbetzin Leeds about her amazing journey toward orthodox Judaism, and ended off the night with a delicious dinner provided by their family. After another amazing day on GIVE West, we can’t wait to continue traveling up the coast tomorrow!

Henny, New York

We started our amazing day with davening in Fresno followed by breakfast and lunch making. We then went to an amazing organization called Valley Dream Center, where we split into 4 groups. The first group was a gardening group and they picked and planted fresh fruits and vegetables. The second group went around the community handing out flyers teaching people about what the organization does for the needy. The third group went the community finding children to play with and entertain. The last group walked around the community helped clean all the trash from the streets and sidewalks. After that, we went to Apple Headquarters (Apple Park) where we got to see exclusive apple merchandise. Next, we headed to the Google Headquarters (Googleplex) where we saw giant animated characters and saw even more exclusive merchandise of Google. We then headed to the San Jose University where we had a delicious dinner catered from an amazing Kosher caterer nearby. The activity of the night was rainbow tag, where all of the counselors hid and the campers had to find them all around the campus. It was an amazing day all around and can not wait for the rest!

Emma, New Jersey
Mayan, New Jersey

We started our day by davening and having an inspirational Chabura with our amazing advisors. We then made our way to Yosemite! There, we witnessed the beauty of Hashem’s creations through the mountains and waterfalls. As we walked on the nature path we felt the misty wind which was coming from the waterfall ahead. Afterward, we went back to the bus, and as we stopped off to take one last picture we said a bracha on the wonders of nature that we saw today. On our way to dinner, we made a pit stop at a grocery store to stock up on snacks. We then went to enjoy another delicious dinner at the Chabad of Fresno. Once we got back to the hotel we had a really fun panoply game and a color war breakout fake out. That was yet another amazing day on GIVE West!

Esther, Florida
Rivka, New York

Everyday on GIVE West gets better and better! Today, we started off the day in Los Angeles with a meaningful davening and a yummy breakfast. We then gathered into our Chabbura groups lead by our amazing advisors. Then, we hopped onto the bus, driven by Ciro our hero, and went to the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. After seeing all of the cool stars, we hopped onto the bus again to go to our Warner Brothers Studio Tour! The tour was around 2 hours and was so exciting! We saw super cool sets and props, including the sets of Fuller House, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and saw super cool props from Batman (the Batmobile), Harry Potter, Crazy Rich Asians, Wonder Woman, Aqua Man, and more. After the tour was over, we headed over to the gift shop to get some really cool souvenirs and take a group picture! We then went back to the bus and had a relaxing four-hour bus ride to Fresno, California. Once we arrived we headed over to the Chabad of Fresno where we had a delicious dinner and heard a meaningful speech from the Rebbetzin about how her and her husband started the Chabad there. Afterward, we headed over to the hotel and got settled in. Then we had a super chill night activity with food and music to end the night. Today on GIVE West was even more amazing than the last and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us!

Leora, New York
Henny, New Jersey

On Shabbos, we explored the theme of a man’s relationship with another man. Starting Shabbos morning we davened and then had an awesome kiddish filled with all of our favorite snacks. Later we had some free time where we either learned with our advisors or just relaxed with friends. After that, we had a great lunch followed by more free time to just enjoy and relax with our friends. Additionally, we had the opportunity to learn with our advisors one-on-one about whatever we wanted! Then we went and davened mincha, and after which we learned about how our words have a major impact on the people around us. Following we had an amazing dinner with an awesome ebbing session. Then we said Havdalah (which was so much fun)! Lastly, for our Maleve Malka we did master chef (dessert-themed) which was also so much fun. This was one of the best Shabbosim ever.

Maya, Chicago

On this past Friday on GIVE West, we began our day with davening and delicious breakfast. We then hopped on the bus to Camp Etta, a day camp for Jewish kids with special needs. At Camp Etta, we set up for our Disney themed carnival and then joined everyone for a special tefillah and many songs. After the singing was finished, we went back to our carnival booths and began our amazing morning activity with the campers. The carnival booths varied from birthday table settings to a glam station to Disney karaoke. All the Camp Etta campers and all of us GIVE Westers truly did have a blast. After we left Camp Etta, we indulged in the most amazing pizza ever for lunch. We then got back on the bus to tour Universal City Walk for about an hour. Once everyone was finished shopping and looking around, we went back to our hotel and got ready for an amazing Shabbos.

Rikki, New York

Today was a great day on GIVE West! We started off the day with a meaningful chaburah learning and then hopped on the bus to head to our daily activities. Our first stop of the day was a hike through Runyon Canyon. We enjoyed the beautiful view of Los Angeles and of the Hollywood Sign while climbing the steep Canyon. It was difficult in the beginning but by the end, everyone felt accomplished. We then enjoyed a delicious lunch on the bus. After our hike, we headed to the USC college campus village to make posters for the chesed carnival tomorrow (stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog to find out how it goes!). We then hopped back on the bus and went to Midnight Mission food bank. We worked hard to prepare and serve meals to the needy and homeless. Being the only volunteers there, we worked extra hard to ensure every task was completed— we fed 449 homeless men and women their meals. It was not only meaningful but a truly educational and inspiring experience as well. We finished off the day with a fireworks show at an air force base to celebrate the Fourth of July. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us all!

Irit, New Jersey
Emily, Massachusetts

We began our fun-filled day in Los Angelos with a beautiful Rosh Chodesh davening, followed by breakfast and Chabburah. We then set out for an exciting day starting with a hike. We hiked up Mt. Lee from the Griffith Observatory to see the famous HOLLYWOOD SIGN where we took a ton of pictures. After hiking back down, we got back on the bus and made our way to the LA Regional Food Bank. We got to sort, box, and weigh food donations to be sent out to people in need. We ate lunch on the way to Beverly Hills where we got to walk around and explore Rodeo Drive. The stores were super expensive, but it was still fun to look around. Then, we picked up dinner and headed to the Santa Monica Pier where we ate in the parking lot, davened mincha, and then went to see what the pier and beach had to offer. Some of us went to the beach to enjoy the waves and others went to the pier. On the pier, there were many rides to go on and souvenir shops. There was even a violinist and drummer playing songs by the beach. We got to see the beautiful sunset over the mountains and ocean, then headed back to the hotel. We’re so excited for July 4th tomorrow!

Gabby, California
Neira, New York