My favorite thing about being Jewish is celebrating the holidays with my family. I enjoy spending the time eating delicious food, talking and taking the time to be together.

Becoming a Bar Mitzvah was something I was not sure I wanted to do. I knew it would be a lot of work learning the prayers and studying. I knew this was important to my family, especially my Bubbles, as I am the last of her six grandchildren, to have a Bar Mitzvah. I realized that it was not as hard as I thought once I started learning everything and that I could definitely accomplish this goal. I can not believe I only have a few more weeks to go and then I will be considered an adult in the Jewish community.

For my Mitzvah project, I collected items for Bright Blessings, which is an agency that serves the homeless children in Charlotte. I asked my friends and family to help by donating blankets, teen toiletries, card games, ear buds, and other items that the agency requested for the teenage community. I am filling up backpacks and will deliver it to Bright Blessings before the end of March. I am thankful for all the help I got to make this project a success.

Charlie is the son of Allison and Paul Arena, and the brother of Jillian. He is the grandson of Susan and Howard Udoff (of blessed memory), of Boca Raton, Florida, and of LuRuth and James Arena of Durham, North Carolina.

Charlie will become a bar mitzvah on April 7, 2018 in Boca Raton, FL