July 2013 - Page 4 of 5

Giving Heart to Heart

Today Bus 1 had the zechut of working with 2 incredible organizations!

The first was an organization called Save A Child’s Heart, which is an Israeli based international humanitarian project, who’s mission is to improve the quality of pediatric care for children from developing countries who suffer from heart disease. Upon arrival, we watched an incredible video that showed us all the great work that they do, which was really meaningful and inspiring! After that, we had the privilege of meeting two of the patients that were home today; we got to play with them and get to know them. One was a precious girl from Ghana and the other was an adorable boy from Romania. Although we didn’t speak the same language we communicated with smiles and laughter! We really felt that we were able to GIVE, heart to heart! Some of us even got kisses 🙂

We then made our way to the park where we had a delicious lunch…followed by our next chesed trip to Chames, a school for the mentally disabled. Though this chesed was a bit more challenging, it was such a meaningful and special experience, to interact with such pure souls!

Our day overall was absolutely incredible…we will never forget the smiles that we saw today, and we are looking forward to seeing many more!

What a GIVEaldik day :)

Coming off an awesome Shabbos and electrifying Motzei Shabbos outing, there is only one way to describe today- GIVEaldik!!! We started off our day bright and early heading north to Netanya. We arrived at Emunah’s children home, Beit Elizraki, with ruach and energy. The kids in Beit Elazraki presented their beautiful sounding choir and very coordinated dancers. GIVErs then split up and played, danced, and hung out with all the various children.

We all had an incredible time and loved the experience. We then set out to a park and had a delicious BBQ for lunch followed by inspiring Chaburot. Feeling satisfied both physically and spiritually, we went to go enjoy the stunning beach in Netanaya. Swimming and splashing we all had a blast, but we couldn’t stay too long because we needed to go and get ready for our flash mob at Beit Levinson, a hospital in Renana. The patients of Beit Levinson had a festival outside, and the awesome GIVErs brought the ruach and dance moves to spread the cheer to all, near and far. Smiles, laughter, and dancing filled the air in Beit Levinson and everyone left feeling inspired knowing that they made someone’s day.

We are now heading back to Mevaseret to have dinner and end the day with a shiur from Rabbi Nissel. Like I said, no other words other then GIVEaldik!!!!

What an incredible first Shabbos on GIVE! Guest Blogger, Efrat Malachi

Our first Shabbos on GIVE was incredible!

My experience was unbelievable thanks to everyone who made it possible, and a big shout out to Mo for the amazing food I couldn’t get enough of. I was just hopping around from place to place trying to do everything at once and still try to find an hour for myself to rest. As you can see we had an amazing night since we all slept in. Sleep is a wonderful thing and I think that was the perfect time to take advantage of it as we all did. What added to this Shabbos a lot was meeting so many new girls from all over the country and becoming friend with them. It’s awesome because now you know wherever you go you’ll always have a place to go to. The singing of all of our GIVErs really added to the fun of Shabbos and lifted our spirits so much higher than what it was at the beginning. To end off an extraordinary Shabbos, we had ebbing which was unimaginable! I could tell how much everyone was into it and what our souls had to pour out. I definitely gained a lot this Shabbos, so imagine what another four weeks will do!!!

-Efrat/Effie Malachi

Week in Review from our Director, Erin Stiebel

Dear Parents,

We’re here! After months of waiting, planning, and anticipation, we have arrived safely in Israel and have enjoyed our first few days getting to know your girls. Let me tell you, we have an AWESOME group of girls this summer!

We arrived after a very (very, very) long flight, settled down in our “home away from home”- Mevaseret, and after a brief orientation and some delicious lunch prepared by our wonderful chef, Moe, we made our way into Jerusalem for the first time, ready to visit our sacred link to generations past, the Kotel. It was a very moving experience for many of our campers, to touch the stones bearing the tears, prayers and dreams of so many before us. For some, it was their first time at the Kotel, while others felt very at home returning to a familiar place where their connection with Hashem is at its highest. We ended the evening with a wonderful dinner and an early curfew to allow for some much-needed rest!

Our first day of chessed, Thursday, was filled with an array of chessed opportunities! We began the day visiting 2 local nursing homes where we sang and danced with the residents and then headed to Yad Sara, an organization that provides medical supplies and assistance to a remarkable number of individuals across Israel. Lunch was served at the Mifletzet, a REALLY fun park in Jerusalem with super fun slides coming out of the mouth of a monster (sounds a bit unorthodox, but when you see it yourself, you’ll understand!), and then we headed to Gan Saker, for an afternoon of activities, games, pita making and dancing with Alei Siach, an organization for adults with developmental disabilities. We had a blast- and so did our new friends from Alei Siach! That night we returned home for dinner, introductions to chaburahs (our daily learning sessions), a hilarious night activity and of course, our kick-off Thursday Night Mishmar with our NCSY GIVE Rabbi, Rabbi Barcuh Felberman of Shaalavim for Women. Awesome learning, awesome snacks, awesome day.

Today was very meaningful, as we made our way to Har Herzel, hearing the story of Michael Levin, an American soldier killed in the 2006 Lebanon War, and many others who lost their lives defending our beloved homeland. Our guard, Nitzan, shared her personal story of serving in the army, allowing the girls to hear first hand what our Israeli brothers and sisters sacrifice for Jewish people everywhere. We then worked the field in Bait HaZayit, helping to harvest vegetables and weed the field so that more produce could grow successfully. We truly got our hands dirty with chessed, today! From there we headed to the shuk, to fully experience the craziness of erev Shabbos! We shopped, ate, and bumped into anyone and everyone looking to buy their last minutes shabbos needs! It was a blast!

We’re now getting ready for our first shabbos together as the NCSY GIVE family and can’t wait to continue to get to know each other, grow together, learn together and laugh together. It’s sure to be an uplifting experience!!

Thank you for sharing your daughters with us- and be sure to share our experience along with us by frequently visiting our NCSY GIVE website. There you will find constant updates, pictures, videos and blogs. Enjoy!

Wishing you and your family a beautiful shabbos!

Erin and the NCSY GIVE Family

First Day of Chesed!

Har Herzel and Beit Zayit

This morning we started out by going to Har Herzel, Israel’s military cemetery. We had a very moving experience which was finished off by a personal account from our Melaveh Neshek, Nitzan. We then had the opportunity to work the land in Beit Zayit. The GIVErs picked vegetables and cleared the ground for more fresh produce to be grown.

We can’t be in Yerushalayim on a Friday and not make in to The Machaneh Yehuda Shuk. We are on our way there and then back to Mevasseret for a beautiful Shabbos.

We hope everyone has a GIVEaldik Shabbos!

First Day of Chesed!

We started our first day of chessed on NCSY GIVE in Beit Avot Hod, where we met some very special elderly people. From there we visited Yad Sarah and were a part of their amazing efforts to help those in need by cleaning and maintaining walkers. Right now we are currently in Gan Sacher making pita and Israeli salad with our friends from Alei Siach. What an outstanding first day on GIVE!

Welcome to GIVE 2013!

We’ve finally arrived!

We’re Finally here!

NCSY GIVE has arrived at Mevasseret where all of the GIVErs have settled in and begun to take in the beautiful scenery!

After orientation, an ice breaker, and a delicious lunch, we made our way to the Old City. This was our first outing as a group and it was especially memorable for several GIVErs, as this was their first time visiting the Kotel.

We are off to dinner followed by an early night so we can all rest up for our first chesed tomorrow!

Israel here we come!

We are at the gate ready to begin our journey.

The girls are super excited…Israel here we come on NCSY GIVE 2013!

Here are a few photos while you wait…