JCC Association Creates Pilot Resident Camp Program Aimed at Russian-Speaking Jewish Families
New York, NY, April 22, 2008 Thanks to generous funding from the Genesis Philanthropy Group and Foundation for Jewish Camp, up to sixty children, ages 6 to 14, from Russian-speaking Jewish families will have the opportunity to attend JCC resident camps this summer at a steep tuition discount. Regardless of economic need, each child willing to commit to a camp program for a minimum of three weeks is to receive a stipend worth about two-thirds of the full cost of camp tuition. Further requirements of eligibility are that youngsters be first-time residential campers and not be enrolled in a Jewish day school.
JCC Association, which oversees the largest continental network of Jewish resident camps, is piloting the program at four camps for the 2008 season: Camp Wise , operated by the Mandel JCC of Cleveland; Pinemere Camp , the independent JCC camp located in metropolitan Philadelphia; JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood , operated by JCCs of Greater Boston; and Camp JCA Shalom , the independent JCC camp located in Malibu, California. The four have been selected based on their experience working with nearby Russian-speaking communities and will be responsible for local camper recruitment, with marketing and training support from JCC Association. It is hoped that each camp will be able to recruit between 10 and 15 campers.
It is not in the mindset of Russian families to send their children away to summer camp, and they are uncomfortable with activities that have a religious orientation, said Charlene Wendell , a consultant to JCC Association on camping services. That's why this represents such an incredible opportunity to engage this community in a culturally based Jewish experience. JCC overnight camps offer all the fun and friendship and skill development of any sleep-away camp, with the additional benefit of Jewish identity-building through Jewish culture, history, values and traditions. Research has shown that Jewish resident camp experiences have a powerful impact on lifelong Jewish identity and affiliation. The Genesis Group, a consortium of Russian philanthropists, is interested in giving Russian Jewish emigrant families the resources they need to sink Jewish roots in the countries where they live.
The grants from the Genesis Philanthropy Group and the Foundation for Jewish Camp were filtered to JCC Association by the Jewish Funders Network as part of its Matching Grants Initiative for Camper Incentives, announced earlier this year. In addition to the funding for camper incentives, Genesis has given JCC Association a grant for program administration, marketing and evaluation. The Foundation for Jewish Camp is providing additional funds for specialized training for camp staff, which is being supplied by a shaliach, or emissary, from the Jewish Agency for Israel with expertise in working with Russian immigrants to the United States .
The funders chose the JCC Movement because they were looking for community-based organizations that had access to large numbers of Russian Jewish families and offer a way for camp families to remain connected with the Jewish community once the camp season ends, noted Wendell. JCC Association is the sole Jewish communal organization participating in this innovative outreach initiative, she added.
The JCC Movement, Wendell asserted, strives to be warm and welcoming to all segments of the Jewish community, and JCC Association is grateful that the Jewish Funders Network and its partners have made it possible, through this new program aimed at Russian Jewish youngsters, for us to reach out in a different way to this population.
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JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
15 E. 26 St., NY, NY 10010
212-786-5092
grounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also a U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
The NFL Youth Football Fund (YFF) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization
founded by the National Football League and NFL Players Association
in 1998 to use football as a catalyst to promote positive
youth development. Through the YFF, hundreds of thousands
of youngsters have been given the opportunity to learn the
game of football, get physically fit, and stay involved in
productive after-school activities with adult mentors. The
YFF also provides youth football participants with safe and
accessible places to play, as well as programs and initiatives
that address the importance of proper coaching, academics,
health and safety, and life skills development.
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