Camp is an investment in a child’s Jewish future

Investing in the next-generation ensures that the values that make Jewish Rhode Island strong and vibrant today will be even more robust tomorrow. 

Supporting educational and Jewish cultural programs are critical priorities for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. With its supporters, the Alliance funds summer camp experiences that make Jewish life relevant and meaningful to hundreds of young people, as well as supporting local Jewish day schools, PJ Library, a local Israel shlichah, and enrichment programs. Last year, the Annual Campaign provided supporting funds for scholarships at Rhode Island-based Camp JORI in Wakefield, Camp Gan Israel in Warwick, and the Alliance’s J-Camp at the Dwares Jewish Community Center in Providence.

Research shows the long-term positive impact of Jewish camp. In 2011, the Foundation for Jewish Camp released a study called Camp Works – the Long-Term Impact of Jewish Summer Camp that makes the case for Jewish summer camp as an effective way to ensure Jewish continuity. The study analyzed recent population surveys in 25 American communities, comparing attitudes and behaviors of adults who attended Jewish overnight camps with adults who did not. The results were striking. Adults who spent summers at Jewish overnight camp were: 21 percent more likely to feel that being Jewish is very important, 25 percent more likely to give to Jewish charities, and 55 percent more likely to feel emotionally attached to Israel.

In addition to data, the personal stories our camp professionals hear provide the human face and impact of campaign dollars at work. Last summer, close to 800 weeks of camp were attended by 116 children at the Alliance’s J-Camp.

One parent shared, “As a family with two parents having full-time careers, it has been a blessing for us to have our son enrolled in summer camp at the Jewish Alliance. We know he was well cared for, safe and that he was continually learning and advancing.  I am confident that our son is well prepared for his next chapter and challenge.” This is just one story of hundreds who have a life-changing summer experience thanks to the Jewish Alliance’s Annual Campaign.

Dollars raised for the Annual Campaign help fund programs and services that are dedicated to enriching Jewish life in Rhode Island and ensuring that no one in need goes without – from battered communities overseas lacking food supplies and medicine to impoverished families in need of access, opportunity, and employment locally; from young families wanting a Jewish life for their children to teens traveling the world to strengthen their Jewish identity.

For more information about the 2018 Annual Campaign, the Jewish Alliance or to make a gift, contact Michele Gallagher at mgallagher@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 165.

You can also make your gift online at jewishallianceri.org. For more information about J-Camp contact Seth Finkle at sfinkle@jewishallianceri.org.

STEPHANIE HAGUE (shague@jewishallianceri.org) is the philanthropy officer at the  Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.