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18 July 2024
Earlier this week, I had lunch with some of Federation’s generous donors and leaders, as I often do. This time, however, we were surrounded by the laughter, song, and joy of hundreds of campers as they crowded into the Capital Camps cafeteria. The cacophony – and the impact it represented – was beautiful.
We were there for exactly that: to witness what happens when we invest in Jewish summer camp. Federation and donors like you have supported local campers for years, helping them connect with one another, with Israel, and with their Jewish identities. We’ve provided incentive grants for families to send children to camp for the first time, and needs-based scholarships to lower the barriers for 53% of families that received financial assistance and who might otherwise have been unable to send their children to Jewish camp.
On this visit, we immersed ourselves in the Capital Camps experience and the ways in which they’ve helped campers and counselors deepen their relationships with Israel and Israelis for many years. This summer, with war continuing in Israel, that relationship has grown deeper still, thanks to Federation’s Israel Crisis Relief Allocations. Your generosity ensured we could fund Camp USA, a nonprofit creating mifgash (encounter) opportunities between Jewish youth from Israel and the United States at overnight summer camps. The constant theme in our conversations with both the Israeli and local campers was that, following a year of challenges, camp was a place for them to be free to be authentically Jewish and heal.
As a father, a Jewish communal professional, and a former camper and counselor, I could not be more grateful to you for making Jewish summer camp happen. I know how meaningful these two months of the year can be, and why so many live “ten months for two.” It’s a transformative, incomparable experience that helps children grow as people, friends, Jews, and future leaders.
Many thanks to those who joined us on this visit. I look forward to our next opportunity to see our impact in action with you. As always, I’m happy to share more about our work and the difference you’re making, and to answer any questions. Please feel free to reach out anytime.
With gratitude,
Gil Preuss
CEO, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington