C H A R I TA B L E G I V I N G
A volunteer prepares meals for wildfire evacuees.
B’nai B’rith Camp pivots to serve the community
T
he financial implications of the Governor’s mandated closing of overnight camps are profound for BB Camp. The total lost revenue from the cancellation of BB’s overnight camp, our youth, teen, adult and family activities, and retreat rentals is $2.2 million. BB Camp relies on fees to cover camp’s summer costs and our year-round efforts to plan for camp, including staff salaries, year-round programming, and maintaining their beautiful grounds, to sustain a world-class experience for the community. Despite the overnight camps closure, BB Camp staff and lay leadership pivoted, creatively adapted, and persevered, using their Jewish values as their guide. Under these unprecedented circumstances, BB Camp has proven to find resilient, new, and forward-thinking approaches to programming to provide to the community this past summer, including: • Following COVID-19 mitigating protocols, BB Camp shared simcha (joy), passion and magic with 613 campers at four BB Day Camp programs, including Portland, Lincoln City and Seattle. It was beautiful to see BB Camp’s responsiveness to the community when called upon, as the team produced new pop-up programs – BB Middle School Days in Portland and BB Day Camp Seattle, along with the already established BB Day Camp Portland and BB Day Camp Lincoln City. • They built chaverut (friendships) with 1,937 campers, alumni and community members via virtual programs. • Worked to repair the world, tikkun olam, by serving 30,441 free “grab & go” meals ( June-August) to Lincoln County’s food-insecure and hungry children on their campus and off-site locations, through their Summer Food Services Program. • As summer began to wind down, their kehila (community) of 229 men’s campers and guests gathered in 16
DECEMBER 2020 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE
Grab and go meals are waiting for the community. a touching Zoom Memorial Shabbat Service, an engaging Zoom Good & Welfare, and a fun (but hot!) annual Golf Tournament. And 80 ReJewvenation women joined in a weekend of sisterhood and meaningful conversation on Zoom. All to benefit BB campers.
