Foundation Approves Jewish Campership Grant
The Columbus Jewish Foundation has awarded a $10,000 “For Our Community” grant to the Columbus Jewish Federation to entice more families to send their kids to Jewish summer camps. The grant will also leverage a dramatic infusion of camp subsidies from other funders, including the Columbus Jewish Federation and the Foundation for Jewish Camping.
The $10,000 “For Our Community” grant comes from the Columbus Jewish Foundation’s Jewish Education & Literacy Endowment Fund, and will be matched by a $17,500 Columbus Jewish Federation allocation for camp scholarships and to promote greater awareness about the benefits of Jewish camping. The Federation-Foundation funding partnership in turn has triggered another $22,500 in campership dollars from the New York-based Foundation for Jewish Camping.
The Foundation for Jewish Camping is North America’s chief organizational advocate for non-profit Jewish overnight camps, and provides expertise and financial resources to camps, campers and their families. The New York foundation has indicated that it will continue its match for another two years if the Federation and Foundation continue to pool camping dollars together in this fashion. Money raised from the funding consortium will be used for overnight camp scholarships ranging from $750-1250 for local Jews between the ages 8 to 16 with little or no prior Jewish overnight camp experiences, and will administered by the Columbus Jewish Federation.
According to the recent studies, Jewish camps serve as model Jewish communities, instilling religious and cultural values in a pleasant, challenging and rewarding environment. Benefits of a Jewish camp experience are spiritual experiences at graded levels of understanding and appreciation, understanding that life is filled with purpose and good beyond its material manifestations, preparation of campers for roles in lay and professional leadership, the translation of religious concepts into real experiences in consonance with the ideals of Judaism, creative settings for Jewish learning and living, and awareness of K’lal Yisrael (the People of Israel) and the State of Israel.
Commenting on the need to increase funding for Jewish camping, Nancy Rosen, the Columbus Jewish Federation’s Israel Experience coordinator, acknowledged the financial burden on a family. “Many families would like to send their children to camp but are hesitant because of the expense. Additionally, there are children in the community who lack intensive exposure to Jewish education and camp experiences. Jewish overnight camp is an important part of a Jewish education that builds a strong Jewish identity and leads to future communal involvement.”
“There is evidence that the recent buzz about the benefits of Jewish camping is capturing the attention of local funders.” according to Jackie Jacobs, who directs the Columbus Jewish Foundation. To illustrate his point, Jacobs cited the recent creation by the Charles, Helen and Stephen Zelkowitz Foundation of a $50,000 campership endowment for the summer day camp program at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus, as well as a six-figure pledge from the Charles “Skip” Loeb family to the Temple Israel Foundation to support camp scholarships for Temple Israel’s youth. Jacobs also has spent time with a local family structuring a camp scholarship fund to be associated with their Temple Sisterhood.
Reacting to the news of the new Zelkowitz Foundation commitment, JCC Executive Director Carol Folkerth noted that the JCC serves 700 campers each summer, and has had summer day camp programs since its formative years, when it operated the Schonthal Camp in Magnetic Springs, Ohio. The JCC currently operates numerous camp programs for different age groups: Camp Hoover at Cubbage Corners on the Hoover Reservoir, for 4th to 8th graders; Camp Shemesh in New Albany for pre-K, Kindergartners and first graders; Camps Ora, Chaverim, and Arye, a special needs camp, at the Jewish Community campus on College Avenue; and Camp Yeladim at each of its three pre-school sites. “With all of our camp activities, the Zelowitz Fund is our first day camp endowment,” she noted. The JCC has also the David Miller Scholarship Fund for Camp Arye.
Commenting on the recently announced endowment from the Loeb family, Temple Israel’s Rabbi Misha Zinkow remarked: “Remembering their own Jewish camping experiences, the Loeb family is acutely aware of the impact a Jewish summer camp experience can bring. This gift ensures that many Temple Israel families will be able to send their children to Jewish summer camp programs. A Jewish summer experience does so much for a child’s Jewish identity, development and personal growth. We are grateful for the Loeb’s leadership and foresight.”
According to a release from the Foundation for Jewish Camping, “. . . no experience is more powerful, thrilling or transformative…. Whether what campers remember most is a lakeside Shabbat, camp-wide Maccabiah games, or a hike ending around a campfire, there is no question that camp creates life-long friendships and unbreakable bonds to Judaism and the Jewish community.” For information on Jewish camp scholarships, contact Nancy Rosen at 614-237-7686 at the Columbus Jewish Federation or Ralph Rothschild at the JCC at 614-559-6230.
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