FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMP INC
253 WEST 35TH STREET 4TH FLR, NEW YORK, NY 10001 www.jewishcamp.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: THE KEY TO THE JEWISH FUTURE IS JEWISH CAMP. WE KNOW FROM RESEARCH-AND TWO DECADES' EXPERIENCE-THAT THIS IS WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE FIND JEWISH ROLE MODELS AND CREATE ENDURING JEWISH FRIENDSHIPS. ITS WHERE THEY FORGE A VITAL, LIFELONG CONNECTION TO THEIR ESSENTIAL JEWISHNESS. THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMP (FJC) IS THE CENTRAL ADDRESS AND ADVOCACY GROUP WHICH HELPS CREATE TRANSFORMATIVE SUMMER EXPERIENCES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE-ENSURING THE JEWISH FUTURE. FOUNDED IN 1998, WE ARE A CATALYST FOR CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE FIELD PROVIDING LEADERSHIP, FINANCIAL, AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES TO NONPROFIT JEWISH SUMMER CAMPS, CAMPERS AND THEIR FAMILIES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA. FJC HAS GROWN TO WORK WITH OVER 300 DAY AND OVERNIGHT CAMPS AND SERVE MORE THAN 180,000 YOUTH, TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA EACH SUMMER. IN OUR RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD, CAMP MAY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER BEFORE. TO SUCCEED, JEWISH CAMP MUST OPERATE ON MULTIPLE LEVELS - FOR CAMPERS AND COUNSELORS - DURING THE SUMMER AND YEAR-

TO BUILD A STRONG JEWISH FUTURE THROUGH TRANSFORMATIVE JEWISH SUMMERS.

Specialty Camps Incubator III - The Jim Joseph Foundation in partnership with the Avi Chai Foundation approved funding for 5 new specialty camps in March 2016 for a total of $11.7 million. Prior to the launch, in November 2016, the two foundations provided an additional $1 million grant to admit a sixth camp. During 2019, the Incubator III program included: one-on-one mentoring, consulting support from both field operations directors and the Jewish educator and four 3-day workshops covering all areas of camp operations, including recruitment, marketing, finance and budget, program design, staff training, and Jewish life. The six camps opened their second summer in 2019 with an aggregate enrollment of over 1,000 unique campers.

Yashar - The Yashar Initiative is a $12 million program generously funded by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The goal of the initiative is to increase accessibility for campers and staff with disabilities at Jewish summer day and overnight camps. According to a 2013 Foundation for Jewish Camp Survey, camp professionals highlighted two areas, among others, in which they required support to better serve children with disabilities: their need for funding for capital improvements to increase accessibility, and training for staff. This initiative provides day and overnight camps with essential support in both of these areas, and provides funding for professional development, staff training, research, and evaluation. The first round of grant applications opened in winter 2018, with 16 camps receiving grants in March 2019. Each camp received a capital grant ranging in value from $25,000 to $300,000 in addition to a capacity-building grant ranging in value from $20,000 to $30,000. Camps are also required to attend several trainings throughout the year.

Cornerstone - Foundation for Jewish Camp's Cornerstone Fellowship was initiated in 2003 as a strategy to help camps retain experienced bunk counselors and to capitalize on their influence to raise the bar of the Jewish experience at camp. In fall of 2019, a consortium of four funders (The Marcus Foundation, Arie and Ida Crown Memorial, Morningstar and an anonymous national funder) agreed to new multi-year funding for the Cornerstone fellowship through 2022. Cornerstone has provided nearly 4,900 participants (since inception) with a meaningful professional development program worthy of putting on their resumes and an experience for which staff vie to participate. For those camps involved for multiple years, Cornerstone participation has become a desired fellowship for camp staff. Each year, participating camps nominate exemplary third-year bunk counselors and specialists as fellows, and send them to a 5-day seminar in the spring. The 2019 Cornerstone Fellowship was held in May 2019 and included close to 400 participants. Accompanying the fellows is one member of the camp leadership team, the liaison, who mentors the fellows and continues their training at camp. The vast majority of these liaisons are in their 20's and 30's. Recognizing the opportunity to provide a rich Jewish and professional learning experience for the liaisons, the program has been expanded to make the liaison experience a goal, with the expectation that the liaisons gain an immeasurable sense of themselves as Jewish leaders and community participants. All participants have come to regard Cornerstone as a premier professional development and Jewish educational opportunity that has a profound and lasting impact.

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