New York programs will combine community service, learning, sports, and entertainment complying with local guidelines
With camp, travel, and NCSY Summer programs cancelled as a result of the pandemic, the Orthodox Union (OU), has created Project Community 2020 (PC20), a summer initiative focused on engaging teens, college students and Yachad members. Launching across the US and Canada on July 6, in conjunction with the OU’s NCSY, Yachad, and OU-JLIC, PC20 offers teens recreation combined with the Jewish learning and volunteer opportunities to bring support to local communities.
“The closure of summer camp programs this summer has left thousands of teens across North America with a desperate need for structured programming and there is a desire from both these teens and their parents to participate in Torah learning opportunities as well as help the community prevail over this unprecedented disruption,” said Orthodox Union President Moishe Bane. “The OU is proud to have brought together all of our departments to develop Project Community 2020 as both a way to engage our teens and address our community needs as we rebuild after this pandemic.”
The New York program will include versions of Kollel and Michlelet, both based in Five Towns and aimed at providing teens with morning religious programing including prayer and learning, similar to the way the NCSY Summer programs bearing the same names operate in Israel. The programs will both also include sports and recreational activities in the morning and two nights of activities each week that will be planned dynamically as the area continues to re-open.
In the afternoons, teens will have a variety of volunteering opportunities, including having teens participate in building a house in Long Beach with Habitat for Humanity. Weekly programs will also operate in Queens and Brooklyn.
All programs will be run in accordance with state and local health requirements. For more information, please visit https://www.pc20.org.
