On March 27 and 28, four adult riders, formerly from northern New Jersey, will be riding along with youngsters from Beit Shemesh, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Modiin and Raanana to benefit Geerz, a non-profit organization founded five years ago in Israel by Nachum Wasosky, CEO. Among the 25 riders will be Charlie Feldman, Dave Libman, Shai Jaskoll and Joe Gitler, former friends and neighbors of the northern New Jersey community. They join thousands of other area olim who have become involved in and even founded meaningful new non-profits in their new homeland. Through rigorous mountain biking sessions held weekly in various cities throughout Israel, Geerz teaches Israeli youth critical life skills, healthy habits and self-confidence.
Since its inception, Geerz has reached over 500 boys and girls, native Israelis as well as a large contingent of children of olim from the USA, Britain and South America. The weekly 90-minute sessions conducted by trained, young staff, have given the youngsters the emotional and physical stamina to better deal with the challenges they may confront in academic and/or social situations.
The “Get Into Geerz Two-Day Ride” will take participants through some of the most scenic parts of Israel, starting at the Nachsholim beach on the Mediterranean Sea and finishing in Teveria on the shores of the Kinneret. The funds raised from the two-day ride will be dedicated to equipment and programming for those youth in the Geerz program who are on the fringes of society. Typically, it is the youth on the fringe who are most in need of the financial support to help defray the cost of equipment including bikes, helmets and other gear. These children are also most helped by the life-skills curriculum that was developed by the founders of Geerz and is constantly being improved and updated to target the needs of the young participants.
Wasosky is a Pittsburgh native. He attended Yeshiva University, after which he worked with at-risk youth in Colorado. It was there that he discovered the potential of mountain biking in helping boost the life-skills of youngsters who were insecure and wavering in their direction. He proceeded to create a curriculum geared to youngsters aged 7 to 16 that includes the physical skills needed in mountain biking as well as the positive mindset and emotional stamina needed when meeting any challenge.
Upon making aliyah, Wasosky saw the need for such a program in his community of Bet Shemesh. He saw youngsters who were overwhelmed by religious and/or academic pressures. He also realized that children were spending inordinately long hours after school indoors, on their electronic devices, rather than benefitting from the year-round good weather opportunities for exploring nature. Parents in his community were excited by the potential of the program and registered their children for the weekly sessions, separate for boys and girls and divided by physical stamina and skills. Wasosky established additional programs in Ramat Bet Shemesh, Modiin and most recently Raanana.
Enter Laurent Bensimon, Maryland native, who made aliyah with his family three years ago from Englewood. Residing in Raanana, Bensimon volunteered this past September to establish a branch of Geerz in his city, realizing the enormous benefits it can provide to local children including his own son. In addition to his position as project manager at Barclays Bank, he supervises the initial group of 10 to 12 boys from Raanana, religious and non-religious, who participate in the weekly Geerz program. “Nobody is turned away for lack of funds. We provide a sliding scale of payment as well as full or partial scholarships. Our next goal is to create a program for girls as well in Raanana to be led by female leaders,” provided Bensimon.
Wasosky and Bensimon invite the northern New Jersey community to explore their program and offer any assistance by visiting www.geerz.org or by emailing [email protected]. They also invite the community to see Geerz in action through their online video at https://vimeo.com/198806987.
By Pearl Markovitz
