By Alex Harris, Rosh Shoafim
It’s been a packed week for Shoafim! After an amazing week filled with Yom Sport, the Fourth of July Carnival, our performance of “The Lion King,” and a relaxing Shabbat where we discussed what it means to ask a good question, we started off a new week with plenty of energy.
As Shoafim enters the second machzor, the focus switches from the musical to the Shoafim Tzedekah Project. At its core, the Shoafim Tzedekah Project is an opportunity for chanichim and chanichot to engage with the wider world around them and to learn how to give back to the communities that are important to them. The project centers on volunteer work at camp and a group of fundraisers held over the summer including Shabbat-O-Grams, a Tzedekah fair, and a three-on-three basketball tournament.
Continuing off of the work done in previous summers, we decided to revamp the program and recenter it on non-monetary projects. Over the course of the next four weeks, madrichim and madrichot will run Tzedekah “chugim,” short Tzedekah intensive programs, aimed at improving the camp community in ways that don’t require donations. For example: one chug is running an ice cream shop where chanichim/chanichot can purchase ice cream using “gemilut chasidim” tickets which the receive for acting with compassion towards others. Another chug is planning and running the Tzedekah fair for the entire camp.
Suffice to say, Shoafim is about to embark on an amazing journey! We have so much more to do this kayitz and we are so excited to get started!
