Sophia Waingort
This summer at SBH was packed with moments that brought our community together in the best ways. We kicked things off with our favorite Saturday night of the year, Midnight Festival, where over 3,000 young adults gathered to play games and scream on rides with their friends. Soon after came Jaclyn’s Lemonade Stand, our sweetest event of the summer in memory of Jaclyn Ashear A”H. Ten families hosted stands that included snacks and activities like a bouncy house, face painting, pony rides, even a train ride, and of course, lemonade. That same day, our youth and young adults joined forces at Hoops4Hesed, competing in volleyball, basketball, and soccer tournaments.
Parents had some opportunities to check in too, from SEARCH’s free screenings for children ages 0 to 4, to Recipe for Success, where families learned practical strategies for the upcoming school year. Shortly after, hundreds of women attended our Medical Day of Health at DSN Beach Club, which focused on bone health.
Over 400 parents and grandparents showed up for our Courage to Heal event, where our expert panelists discussed body safety, boundaries, and prevention for children. Our Fertility Division hosted one of our most successful events of the summer with Together We Grow, an evening of speakers, connection, and a beautiful auction. Our speakers shared their own fertility journeys, bringing awareness and attention to such an important topic.
We can’t forget about our Young Professionals, who impressed this summer with their Stoop Talks in collaboration with The Center, where over 400 young adults gathered on a Friday to hear from community leaders in real estate, including Jeff Sutton, and in hospitality.
Our seniors also had a jam where they danced at the annual Senior Nobeh and sang as loud as they could with Stevie Chera at Young at Heart. Some even ran in our Diane Azrak A”H Team SBH 5K. Our Candy Land–themed marathon was a complete sugar rush, with community members running, strolling, skipping, and of course, crawling. We slowed things down with a day of golf at our 12th Annual Golf Outing, where we honored Michael G. Hudgens and Jason M. Goldberg with the Partners in Kindness Award.
Back again with our youth, they planned an incredible program during the Nine Days. They packed their nights with hallah baking, hesed fairs, meal packing, hanging out with the Special Children’s Center, and an auction. A few weeks later, we held our Charles J. Anteby Youth Awards, where we honored our past presidents and welcomed our new youth presidents and vice presidents of Brooklyn and Jersey. We also celebrated our captains at Captain Appreciation Night, where we recognized volunteers who give so much to SBH.
From June to August, summer at SBH was filled with energy, excitement, inspiration, and education, just because it’s summer doesn’t mean we can’t learn new things! It reminded us once again that when our community comes together, we create something truly special.
