Submission #21751 by B'Nai Amoona Men'S Club - St. Louis, MO (631)

I have read the 2021 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Club Name
B'Nai Amoona Men'S Club - St. Louis, MO (631)
Chanukah Bingo
Club Representative
Person completing form
Scot
Fowler
Club President at time of convention if known at this time
Kevin
Litt
Club President Now
Kevin
Litt
Family and Youth Programming

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Each previous year before COVID-19, the Men's Club facilitated Chanukah Dinner and Bingo. Bingo has always been a high-draw event at the shul. With obvious limitations in place to hold the dinner, we elected to run the event in the parking lot, socially-distanced.
- Through the shul website, we advertised and required RSVP, to prevent over-attendance.
- We prepared bingo cards on makeshift cardboard "clipboards" and had attending cars drive up and pick up their bingo cards and daubers.
- Attendees stayed in their cars with their windows open enough to hear the calling of numbers.
- The Mashgiach assembled treat boxes for each of the participants.
- PA system set up to call numbers. Winners would honk their horns upon winning.
- 16 - 18 cars with 2-3 participants in each car, parents and children were included as participants.
- We created ticket bags with 5 and 10 tickets split out so that we could easily handle the raffles.
- We used portable dry erase boards to keep track of the called bingo numbers as we walked the cars awaiting the calls of Bingo.
- Gift cards and 50/50 raffle were employed for prizes.
Attachments
Self Assessment
Bingo has been a part of the annual BAMC Chanukah dinner. Being able to execute this through the limitations of social distancing was important for not only the Men's Club but the shul as well. The parking lot had 18 cars with multiple people in each car participating. We received a number of compliments from participants as they left the lot at the conclusion of the event. We raised $491 for the Camp Scholarship fund. The lot could have housed another 18 cars easily, however; with Covid remaining a concern, it dampened attendance. Also, with the cold weather, we were limited in the club members participating (5 leaders were engaged during the event).
Bingo is a game that encourages community - bringing our families together. In a year that has moved so many families to virtual participation in shabbat, b'nai mitzvahs, etc., being together while still staying socially distant within a parking lot revived that communal spirit. We were innovative in how we executed the plans - making our own "clip boards" for the gameplay, preparing the game cards and daubers so that they could easily be distributed upon arrival so that everyone could stay healthy, being creative in using car horns and headlights when notifying us of wins, and having food to keep everyone's tummy happy while we played.
We will continue to use this format of event interactions throughout the pandemic to create these communal activities.

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Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes