On May 2nd to 4th, Geerz held its 5th annual Get Into Geerz charity bike ride and it was our biggest and best ever, both in terms of riders and fundraising. Over 70 riders, from different backgrounds came together and collectively rode over 6,000 kilometers while climbing over 120,000 meters of the Holy Land's raw beauty. It was truly a celebration of life, Zionism, friendship and kindness.   

The riders arrived on Sunday afternoon at the historic Kfar Giladi hotel and were treated to an elaborate reception highlighted by sushi platters and craft beer. After picking up their elaborate SWAG packages, the event kicked off with a Siyum Hashas by Yaakov Rosenberg followed by a Seudat Mitzva. The first day of the ride took place in the breathtaking vistas of the Naftali Mountain Range just below the Lebanese border, where we enjoyed stunning trails, thrilling single track riding and swimming in the Jordan River. The riding day ended with an après-ride party featuring craft beer on tap, yoga and refreshments.  After relaxing a bit, our riders enjoyed a lavish barbecue followed by a moving presentation about Geerz. The highlight was a speech given by the father of a twelve year old girl who spoke about how his daughter overcame an eating disorder through her participation in Geerz.  This was followed by an inspirational Kumsitz led by the Solomon brothers. 

The second day's ride began in the the Biriya Forest near Tzfat and concluded at the bank of the Jordan River in Gadot. The riders finished triumphantly and were greeted with a street food feast at the finish line. There were five professionally guided routes to accommodate every riding level. The riders had an incredible time and the sense of camaraderie and bonding was powerful.

Our riders and sponsors raised over $600,000, all of which is earmarked to put kids throughout Israel into the revolutionary Geerz therapeutic mountain biking program. These funds will enable us to bring the Geerz program to many additional towns that have asked for our services. Thanks to the generosity of our riders and supporters, Geerz will purchase bikes, gloves, helmets, hydration packs, and put more kids on the trails. Geerz will teach these kids essential life skills through the magic of mountain biking with its incredibly dedicated staff and a highly customized curriculum.

We have already announced that the GIG 2022 ride will take place on March 27th-29th. Please join us and experience the magic that is Geerz.  To register CLICK HERE

Have you ever dreamed about exploring the magnificent trails of the Holy Land on a bicycle? Imagine the primal joy of experiencing Israel from the saddle, retracing the footsteps of the prophets while making the Land come alive as never before. And the great news is that you don’t have to be an experienced or super fit cyclist. As long as you can ride a bike and are in reasonable shape, you can definitely participate in this extraordinary adventure. We will even provide you with a simple and effective program to get you ready for the ride.  

Geerz is proud to present the first ever, fully supported, multi-day electric mountain biking ride ever to be held in Israel. This November 14-16, for two glorious days, you will cycle through the incomparable beauty of Israel’s Northern jeep trails, while being led by some of the finest and most experienced guides and support crew in the country. At night, you will recharge your batteries in a luxurious hotel while enjoying sumptuous cuisine and bonding with your fellow riders. Every aspect of this ride has been planned to make your experience simply perfect. We will provide you with top of the line electric mountain bikes that can effortlessly scale even the steepest hills. There will be mechanics, medics, lavish pit-stops and a hospitality staff to ensure your total safety and comfort.

This ride is ideal for couples and individuals. If you are looking to experience something truly unique together or individually, meet incredible people, introduce your better half to a whole new world or just do something over-the-top incredible, then this ride is definitely for you.

This unique event is designed as a fundraiser for Geerz. Geerz operates a revolutionary therapeutic mountain biking program which transforms the lives of hundreds of kids throughout Israel. Most of these kids come from the weakest sectors of Israeli society and suffer from social and developmental disorders such as ADHD, PTSD, eating disorders, excessive anger, addiction, autism and anxiety. The Geerz program often succeeds even where conventional therapy has failed. Each individual is required to raise or donate $5,500 ($10,000 for a couple) to support the kids in this program. In appreciation for your kindness, we promise to provide an absolutely unforgettable experience. Just imagine having the time of your life while doing a huge Mitzva. Life simply does not get any better than that. So what are you waiting for? Call Chaim at 972-054-351-8009 or email at chaim@geerz.org and let’s make this happen.

Geerz has long been committed to bringing our revolutionary therapeutic mountain biking program to the areas where it is needed most. This often means opening groups in hard-hit towns along the Gaza periphery and development cities. The kids in these areas desperately need the non-stigmatizing and highly effective therapy developed by Geerz, but their families can't come close to affording it.  That's why, Geerz relies so heavily on the extraordinary generosity of our donors. Your kindness literally transforms the lives of hundreds of kids throughout Israel.

This year, Geerz successfully launched its first program in an Israeli youth village. There are over 70 such villages and they effectively function as orphanages. Not many people know that thousands of Israeli kids live in youth villages throughout the country. These kids cannot live with their families because their home situation is far too turbulent. The grinding poverty, domestic violence and dysfunction that have been their lot, means that these kids have to be raised by kind strangers in an institutional setting. The youth villages do a marvelous job but despite their heroic efforts, they cannot fully compensate for the deprivation of a loving home environment. These kids have nothing of their own. We were approached by several of these villages who had heard glowing reports about Geerz and wanted us to open programs in their villages. Naturally, they had no budget for the program but once again, our generous donors came through and underwrote the cost of the entire program in several villages.  Below is a testimonial from the director of one village.

Dear Nachum and the entire Geerz family:

On behalf of all of us at the Emunah Neve Landy youth village, we would like to express our deepest appreciation for enabling us to participate in the truly wonderful Geerz therapeutic mountain biking program. As you know, the boys who live in our home, come from extremely difficult backgrounds. Most of these kids deal with severe mental, behavioral and social problems. Our objective is to provide them with a normal childhood and equip them with the tools they need to break through the glass ceiling of their background. There are literally no words to describe the huge impact your program has had on our kids. It empowers them, imbues them with much-needed self-esteem, improves their mood and emotional state and enhances their physical fitness. In addition, the program gives them hours of adrenaline filled fun, and a sense of freedom and happiness which have been so rare in the Coronavirus era. We asked the kids to tell us what they think of the program. Their words speak more eloquently than we ever could.

Noam: "It is the best time in the week, I'm always waiting for it"!
Bar: "When I’m on the bike, I feel free and happy, like there aren't so many troubles 
in the world".
Yosef: "When I ride, I have more confidence. I feel like can become anything I want in 
the future and there is no dream that is unreachable".

So once again thank you for making such a difference in our children’s lives.

Best regards,
Shoham Nagar
Director of Boarding School

Goal: Understand the importance of proper nutrition and hydration. 

• Too many riders do not understand the importance of hydration. A lot of riders feel sick or run out of energy because they are not hydrated properly. It is important to drink before, during and after a ride. Small sips every 15 minutes are better than big gulps less often.
• During your ride, you should make sure that your riders stop to drink and over time they will come to drink often on their own. 
• One needs energy to ride; this energy comes from eating healthy food.  It is important to eat before, during (a small snack), and after a ride. 
• Explain that they need to keep their water bottle or hydration pack clean, so they do not get sick from mold.
• Consume 1 liter of water per hour.

Story: The other side of the wall
There was a young woman who took great pride in the growth and care of the flowers in her flower garden. She had been raised by her grandmother who taught her to love and care for flowers as she herself had done. So, like her grandmother, her flower garden was second to none.

One day while looking through a flower catalogue, a picture of a plant immediately caught her eye. She had never seen blooms on a flower like that before. “I have to have it,” she said to herself, and she immediately ordered it.

When it arrived, she already had a place prepared to plant it. She planted it at the base of a stone wall at the back of her yard. It grew vigorously, with beautiful green leaves all over it, but there were no blooms. Day after day she continued to cultivate it, water it, feed it, and she even talked to it attempting to coax it to bloom. But, nothing worked.

One morning, several weeks later, as she stood before the vine, she contemplated how disappointed she was that her plant had not bloomed. She was even thinking about cutting it down and planting something else in its place.

It was at this point that her elderly neighbor, whose lot joined hers, called over to her. “Thank you so much! You can’t imagine how much I have enjoyed the blooms of that vine you planted.” The young woman walked through the gate into her neighbor’s yard, and sure enough, she saw that on the other side of the wall the vine was filled with blooms.

There were indeed the most beautiful blooms she had ever seen. The vine had crept through the crevices and it had not flowered on her side of the fence, it had flowered luxuriantly on the other side.

Lesson: Just because you cannot see the desired result of your labor, does not mean that it bore no fruit.

Connection: If you properly hydrate and maintain proper nourishment, you may not visibly see a difference in yourself or a visible advantage. However, if you did not properly hydrate and provide your body with nutrition, you would definitely see a negative result.