Tamarack Camps: Planting its Legacy

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Tamarack Camps: Planting its Legacy

Through December 2021, the William Davidson Foundation has agreed to match scholarship endowment dollars raised and received by Tamarack Camps.

ROBIN KAUFMAN TREPECK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Tamarack Camps is tirelessly working to reopen for the summer of 2021, and, at the same time, planting seeds for the future.

As my ancestors planted for me, so too will I plant for my children. — Talmud Ta’anit 23a

As represented in the following parable: One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?”

The man replied, “Seventy years.” Honi then asked the man, “And do you think you will live another 70 years and eat the fruit of this tree?” The man answered, “Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.”

Like the old man in the above story planted seeds for the next generation, so must Tamarack Camps. “We didn’t need a pandemic to show just how important a robust endowment can help, but these difficult days (with a halt of camper revenue and fundraising events), most certainly magnified its importance,” says Lee Trepeck, Tamarack’s chief executive officer.

Prior to the spread of COVID-19, Tamarack was in early discussions to launch a comprehensive campaign with a significant focus on endowment. While that initiative is on hold, efforts to raise its scholarship endowment have been jump-started by the William Davidson Foundation. Each year, Tamarack provides almost $900,000 in scholarships, but in these challenging times, the need for 2021 is expected to exceed $1 million. Its scholarship endowment (which annually spins off roughly 5%) currently covers less than 15% of that amount.

In 2019, with an effort to catapult Tamarack’s endowment fundraising initiatives, the William Davidson Foundation provided a grant of $1 million toward scholarship endowment. Further, through December 2021, the William Davidson Foundation has agreed to match, $1 to $1, scholarship endowment dollars raised and received by Tamarack Camps. Once this match is fully realized, Tamarack Camps will have increased its scholarship endowment by an additional $1.6 million.

Thanks to many generous contributors, Tamarack Camps is over halfway to its matching goal. (The William Davidson Foundation will match up to $800,000, of which Tamarack has raised $450,000 to date.)

Three of several new endowment supporters who have made a significant impact toward reaching the matching challenge are the Blumenstein Family, “TSS ’91” and Ruth Hurvitz.

TOP: Jason Zaks at Tamarack

with sisters Lisa (Zaks) Klein and Alana (Zaks) Chakrabarti.

ABOVE: The Blumenstein

Family (and penguins)!

THE BLUMENSTEIN FAMILY

Penny and Harold Blumenstein, their son and daughter-in-law, Ricky and Carol, and family, are well-recognized leaders in the Detroit Jewish community; however, they are not traditionally, per se, “Tamarack people” (none of them were campers, served on the board, or participated in its programs). Nonetheless, they recognize that Jewish summer camp and Tamarack Camps, in particular, are a powerful indicator for living Jewishly. As a family, the Blumensteins are motivated to ensure that a Jewish soul grows and prospers within our community. In addition to a generous 2020