Harvey grants strengthen camp enrollment
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JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE & MICHAL ILOUZ
Children enjoyed swimming, gymnastics and other activities on the opening day of J Camps, June 11, at the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC. |
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, fears were expressed that local Jewish camps might suffer a significant decline in this summer’s enrollment, given that so many families in Greater Houston’s Jewish community are facing financial hardships, caused by one of the worst flooding disasters in U.S. history.
Some 10 months after Harvey, however, many of those fears have washed away, as camps have been able to provide more financial aid to those in need. Far from losing campers to Harvey, many local Jewish summer camps are boasting higher enrollment numbers for this summer, compared to previous years, according to data obtained by the JHV.
The largest Jewish summer camp program in Houston, run by the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC, has approximately 1,110 kids registered for its camps this summer. Based on the latest enrollment numbers, J Camps is tallying up a total of 6,725 camper weeks throughout the summer of 2018, which is 800 more camper weeks than J Camps had registered at the same time last year.
“We are thrilled about this and are very excited that the community is supporting J Camps again this summer,” said Anna Shabtay, director of Children and Camping at the J.
The Evelyn Rubenstein JCC and its Merfish Teen Center were among the community institutions that suffered flood damage from Hurricane Harvey. Both facilities have been repaired and are hosting programming for J Camps this summer.
The J’s basement level, which was hardest hit by flood damage, partially reopened earlier this month, in order to accommodate new camp programming for kids who love science and digital technology.
Jewish kids across Greater Houston told the JHV that Jewish summer camp helps strengthen Jewish identity, builds connections to Jewish community and Israel and creates opportunities for them to make lifelong friendships.
Growing numbers
J Camps isn’t the only Jewish day camp in Houston that has experienced growth this year, despite hardships brought on by Hurricane Harvey.
At the start of Session I, on June 11, Yeshiva Torat Emet’s Camp Ruach had 190 children registered for camp – 30 more kids from a year ago.
“Other campers will still be joining us towards July, so we will probably hit at least 200,” said Camp Ruach director Devorah Ouzzan.
The two largest Jewish overnight camps in Texas also have more Houston kids registered for summer 2018, compared to 2017.
Camp Young Judaea-Texas is ready to host one of the largest groups of campers from Houston in its history, according to CYJ director Frank Silberlicht.
Some 249 Houston kids are heading to CYJ this summer, compared to last summer’s 213. Houston enrollment for this summer also has increased at URJ Greene Family Camp, which is expecting 247 campers from the Houston area.
More scholarships
Local Jewish summer camps have increased scholarships this year in order to make camp available to Houston families impacted by Hurricane Harvey, officials told the JHV. Camps have been able to offer more help to those in need, thanks to an increase in grants provided by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, Foundation for Jewish Camp and other partner agencies, as well as internal donations.
Houston’s Federation, to date, has allocated nearly $290,000 for overnight camp, more than $60,000 for day camp and an additional $27,000 for students to participate in Israel experiences.
“We are grateful to the Jewish Federation for their extra support for those affected by Harvey,” said J Camps’ Shabtay. “We did have a very large request for financial assistance this year and their support has allowed us to get kids in camp who might not have been able to without it.”
Federation leaders convened a series of meetings this past year to consider the impact Hurricane Harvey will continue to have on the community’s financial well-being, in general, and on individual households, in particular. Specific concern was expressed over the storm’s effect on families being able to afford Jewish summer camp and Jewish day school tuitions over the coming years.
“Even eight months after the storm, many families remain out of their homes and continue to struggle with plans for the future,” said Kari Saratovsky, director of Harvey Recovery for Houston’s Federation.
“How do you sustain Jewish life when all of our Jewish day schools and Jewish camp programs have families who have to make tough choices between prioritizing these Jewish experiences or addressing their needs to rebuild their homes and lives?” she told the JHV.
“We are trying to lessen some of that burden by keeping our kids connected through day school, summer camp and Israel experience scholarships,” Saratovsky said. “We know how crucial adolescent and teen programs are for lifetime connections to Judaism, and we want to ensure those continue for families who are struggling as a result of Harvey.”
Flood assistance
With help from the Houston Federation, Foundation for Jewish Camp and Greene Family Camp, itself, GFC was able to increase the amount of financial aid it gave this year to families, according to Larry Nathan, GFC’s director of development.
About 45 percent of Houston campers received some form of financial aid to attend camp this summer at GFC, Nathan noted.
“Each year, Greene awards approximately $250,000 in financial assistance and incentive grants to families throughout Texas and Oklahoma,” he told the JHV. “That said, GFC allocated an additional $100,000 to accommodate 62 campers impacted by Harvey,” bringing the total amount of financial aid awards this year to $350,000, he said.
GFC and CYJ each received $200,000 this year from the Houston Federation and Foundation for Jewish Camp, Nathan noted.
Silberlicht said 114 CYJ campers received financial aid for camp this summer from at least one source, including CYJ, itself, and other community organizations, apart from the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s One Happy Camper program. The latter gave assistance to 25 campers for CYJ this summer, and CYJ gave scholarships to 45 campers, totaling $51,355.
Like GFC and J Camps, CYJ has increased its overall financial aid in order to assist families impacted by Harvey.
“We gave flood assistance to 70 campers,” Silberlicht said. “$63,481 from CYJ, $118,300 from the Federation, and $181,781 overall.
“Of the 70 [recipients], 16 are new to CYJ,” he said. “Eleven of those, I think, registered because of the grant. The others are siblings of existing campers.”
In order to increase financial aid, CYJ raised money earmarked for “Harvey tuition support,” “Harvey help” and for “Harvey refugees that stayed at camp,” Silberlicht added.
GFC campers also have benefited from internal fundraising efforts at their camp.
“The Union for Reform Judaism, in partnership with Greene, launched a relief appeal immediately after Harvey made landfall,” Nathan said. “Over 2,500 donors contributed close to $400,000, which was used to provide direct support to Reform congregations and families throughout Greater Houston.”
GFC’s ability to enroll more campers from Houston this year “is a direct result” of additional financial assistance provided by GFC, Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and Foundation for Jewish Camp, Nathan added.
Shabtay said J Camps saw a 39 percent increase this year in the number of kids receiving J scholarship assistance. This translates to 181 recipients of J scholarships, plus another 44 campers, who received outside financial aid to help with camp tuition.
J Camps did not conduct direct fundraising in response to Harvey, according to Shabtay.
“We supported and directed people to the Federation campaign,” she said. “However, we did have some of our loyal donors and also people from across the country send in donations to directly support the efforts of the J.”
Flood recovery
Not all local Jewish summer camps have larger enrollments this summer.
Beth Yeshurun Day School’s summer camp has fewer campers this year, yet its enrollment remains strong with approximately 200 campers registered for 2018. Besides providing financial assistance to several families impacted by Harvey, Camp BYDS also offered early-bird registration discounts and a siblings registration discount, camp director Karla Morales told the JHV.
Like the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC, BYDS suffered heavy flood damage during Harvey. The facility was repaired earlier this year in time to host students for the spring semester, as well as camp this summer.
Some 10 months after Harvey, however, many of those fears have washed away, as camps have been able to provide more financial aid to those in need. Far from losing campers to Harvey, many local Jewish summer camps are boasting higher enrollment numbers for this summer, compared to previous years, according to data obtained by the JHV.
The largest Jewish summer camp program in Houston, run by the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC, has approximately 1,110 kids registered for its camps this summer. Based on the latest enrollment numbers, J Camps is tallying up a total of 6,725 camper weeks throughout the summer of 2018, which is 800 more camper weeks than J Camps had registered at the same time last year.
“We are thrilled about this and are very excited that the community is supporting J Camps again this summer,” said Anna Shabtay, director of Children and Camping at the J.
The Evelyn Rubenstein JCC and its Merfish Teen Center were among the community institutions that suffered flood damage from Hurricane Harvey. Both facilities have been repaired and are hosting programming for J Camps this summer.
The J’s basement level, which was hardest hit by flood damage, partially reopened earlier this month, in order to accommodate new camp programming for kids who love science and digital technology.
Jewish kids across Greater Houston told the JHV that Jewish summer camp helps strengthen Jewish identity, builds connections to Jewish community and Israel and creates opportunities for them to make lifelong friendships.
Growing numbers
J Camps isn’t the only Jewish day camp in Houston that has experienced growth this year, despite hardships brought on by Hurricane Harvey.
At the start of Session I, on June 11, Yeshiva Torat Emet’s Camp Ruach had 190 children registered for camp – 30 more kids from a year ago.
“Other campers will still be joining us towards July, so we will probably hit at least 200,” said Camp Ruach director Devorah Ouzzan.
The two largest Jewish overnight camps in Texas also have more Houston kids registered for summer 2018, compared to 2017.
Camp Young Judaea-Texas is ready to host one of the largest groups of campers from Houston in its history, according to CYJ director Frank Silberlicht.
Some 249 Houston kids are heading to CYJ this summer, compared to last summer’s 213. Houston enrollment for this summer also has increased at URJ Greene Family Camp, which is expecting 247 campers from the Houston area.
More scholarships
Local Jewish summer camps have increased scholarships this year in order to make camp available to Houston families impacted by Hurricane Harvey, officials told the JHV. Camps have been able to offer more help to those in need, thanks to an increase in grants provided by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, Foundation for Jewish Camp and other partner agencies, as well as internal donations.
Houston’s Federation, to date, has allocated nearly $290,000 for overnight camp, more than $60,000 for day camp and an additional $27,000 for students to participate in Israel experiences.
“We are grateful to the Jewish Federation for their extra support for those affected by Harvey,” said J Camps’ Shabtay. “We did have a very large request for financial assistance this year and their support has allowed us to get kids in camp who might not have been able to without it.”
Federation leaders convened a series of meetings this past year to consider the impact Hurricane Harvey will continue to have on the community’s financial well-being, in general, and on individual households, in particular. Specific concern was expressed over the storm’s effect on families being able to afford Jewish summer camp and Jewish day school tuitions over the coming years.
“Even eight months after the storm, many families remain out of their homes and continue to struggle with plans for the future,” said Kari Saratovsky, director of Harvey Recovery for Houston’s Federation.
“How do you sustain Jewish life when all of our Jewish day schools and Jewish camp programs have families who have to make tough choices between prioritizing these Jewish experiences or addressing their needs to rebuild their homes and lives?” she told the JHV.
“We are trying to lessen some of that burden by keeping our kids connected through day school, summer camp and Israel experience scholarships,” Saratovsky said. “We know how crucial adolescent and teen programs are for lifetime connections to Judaism, and we want to ensure those continue for families who are struggling as a result of Harvey.”
Flood assistance
With help from the Houston Federation, Foundation for Jewish Camp and Greene Family Camp, itself, GFC was able to increase the amount of financial aid it gave this year to families, according to Larry Nathan, GFC’s director of development.
About 45 percent of Houston campers received some form of financial aid to attend camp this summer at GFC, Nathan noted.
“Each year, Greene awards approximately $250,000 in financial assistance and incentive grants to families throughout Texas and Oklahoma,” he told the JHV. “That said, GFC allocated an additional $100,000 to accommodate 62 campers impacted by Harvey,” bringing the total amount of financial aid awards this year to $350,000, he said.
GFC and CYJ each received $200,000 this year from the Houston Federation and Foundation for Jewish Camp, Nathan noted.
Silberlicht said 114 CYJ campers received financial aid for camp this summer from at least one source, including CYJ, itself, and other community organizations, apart from the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s One Happy Camper program. The latter gave assistance to 25 campers for CYJ this summer, and CYJ gave scholarships to 45 campers, totaling $51,355.
Like GFC and J Camps, CYJ has increased its overall financial aid in order to assist families impacted by Harvey.
“We gave flood assistance to 70 campers,” Silberlicht said. “$63,481 from CYJ, $118,300 from the Federation, and $181,781 overall.
“Of the 70 [recipients], 16 are new to CYJ,” he said. “Eleven of those, I think, registered because of the grant. The others are siblings of existing campers.”
In order to increase financial aid, CYJ raised money earmarked for “Harvey tuition support,” “Harvey help” and for “Harvey refugees that stayed at camp,” Silberlicht added.
GFC campers also have benefited from internal fundraising efforts at their camp.
“The Union for Reform Judaism, in partnership with Greene, launched a relief appeal immediately after Harvey made landfall,” Nathan said. “Over 2,500 donors contributed close to $400,000, which was used to provide direct support to Reform congregations and families throughout Greater Houston.”
GFC’s ability to enroll more campers from Houston this year “is a direct result” of additional financial assistance provided by GFC, Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and Foundation for Jewish Camp, Nathan added.
Shabtay said J Camps saw a 39 percent increase this year in the number of kids receiving J scholarship assistance. This translates to 181 recipients of J scholarships, plus another 44 campers, who received outside financial aid to help with camp tuition.
J Camps did not conduct direct fundraising in response to Harvey, according to Shabtay.
“We supported and directed people to the Federation campaign,” she said. “However, we did have some of our loyal donors and also people from across the country send in donations to directly support the efforts of the J.”
Flood recovery
Not all local Jewish summer camps have larger enrollments this summer.
Beth Yeshurun Day School’s summer camp has fewer campers this year, yet its enrollment remains strong with approximately 200 campers registered for 2018. Besides providing financial assistance to several families impacted by Harvey, Camp BYDS also offered early-bird registration discounts and a siblings registration discount, camp director Karla Morales told the JHV.
Like the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC, BYDS suffered heavy flood damage during Harvey. The facility was repaired earlier this year in time to host students for the spring semester, as well as camp this summer.