With my upcoming bar mitzvah this fall, I have been keeping my eye open for a chesed project to get involved with in honor of my bar mitzvah. Rabbi Motechin of Yeshivat Noam suggested running an event Erev Shavuot to keep kids busy while their mothers prepared for the Yom Tov. Since I love to play basketball and I love to teach kids basketball, I decided to run a basketball camp for a few hours this past Friday to raise money for the United Orthodox Synagogue in Houston, which suffered a tremendous amount of amage from the recent floods. Yeshivat Noam boys from first through third grades signed up to spend two hours Friday afternoon playing basketball with their friends, having fun and helping me raise money for this worthy cause. Three of my friends and I ran the camp in Yeshivat Noam’s Middle School Gym and everyone had a great time.

I chose the United Orthodox Synagogue in Houston because I have a strong connection to Houston. My dad grew up in that community and spent his childhood in that shul. Once I heard about all the flooding and how they don’t have a shul to daven in during the week and on Shabbat, I wanted to do something to help out.

I am thankful to Rabbi Motechin, Rabbi Hagler, my dad and my friends and teachers who helped me run the event, as well as the boys who participated in the camp, for making this fundraising event a great success. I hope to run another camp to raise more money for the United Orthodox Synagogue of Houston and other good causes in the near future.

By Sam Ashendorf