Camp Moms: Part of what makes Pinemere Pinemere

By Eytan Graubert Special to Hakol

acy gifts, with the Federation reaching a 79% formalization rate. So where do we go from here, and how do we ensure that five years of legacy gift efforts are honored? It seems Grinspoon had these questions too, along with, How can communities normalize legacy giving to become part of the fabric of philanthropic approaches?

Enter Life and Legacy Plus program. The Federation was approached with the opportunity to apply for an extension of the original program, with a slight shift in focus. The new focus is less on new legacy gifts and more on maintaining donor relationships, stewardship and expanding community outreach.

We hope to continue the successes of the first five years of the program and will work to ensure that legacy giving is normalized within the organizations and community.

Thank you to all our donors and to all the volunteers who have worked so hard over the past five years to make this program such a success in the valley. We look forward to the years ahead and to sustaining the success.

If you’re interested in learning more about Life and Legacy and/or making a legacy gift, please contact Julia Umansky at 610-821-5500 or julia@jflv.org.

The experience of going to sleepaway camp for the summer is a long-standing tradition in the Jewish world. Being at camp allows young people (both campers and staff) the opportunity to grow in immeasurable ways. To flourish, to gain independence and, as we often say at Pinemere Camp, to be the best version of themselves.

But even with all these incredible opportunities, one of the biggest challenges that even the most seasoned campers (and this camp director as well) face is homesickness. We navigate it with expertise and devotion to our campers, but it is not something that will ever go away. Campers will always miss their families and friends while at camp.

The Jewish community has always emphasized the importance of family. As a people, we treat our responsibility to our sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, as holy work. We learn that there is nothing more important than family and to do anything for them. Of course, this begs the question, How can our tradition of spending summers in the woods, away from our families, not contradict the hugely important Jewish value of cherishing, loving and living our lives with our families?

At Pinemere, we start by redefining what family can mean. Bunk mates become siblings at Pinemere and come to understand one another, help and support one another, cheer one another on, cheer one another up and help whenever they can.

The counselors are the big sisters and brothers who love their siblings and want to do right by them. They are able to connect with campers in a way that parents (and camp directors) can’t, and the role-model relationships they form can last forever.

Yet, it is a different group of camp leaders who have formed an invisible camaraderie and who bring the value of unconditional love and support to the campers. While this group all have different jobs at camp (members of our camper care team, program supervisors, administrative staff), they come together to form one of the most important groups at Pinemere: the Camp Moms. A group of incredible women whose devotion to camp, Judaism, and the care and love of children define them. These women are the heartbeat of camp. Through their grace, warmth, smiles and pure love, they work tirelessly to ensure everyone feels like family. The campers probably wouldn’t define them as “mothers,” but they know in their hearts that the space they hold for a parent is helped to be filled by their presence.

For the child at Pinemere, there is opportunity every minute of every day to grow both spiritually and emotionally. Each camper is accepted with their quirks and eccentricities, needs and desires. And these differences are recognized and praised by our Camp Moms. And whether the problem is loneliness, a sad moment, news from home or no mail, these Camp Moms spot a camper who needs a hug, a con- versation or a hand to hold, and they are there. When a camper succeeds, tries something new or shows the type of kindness that we try to teach, our camp moms are there to stand and applaud.

One camp parent offered this when asked about the Pinemere Camp Moms: “Knowing they are breathing camp air, the same air as my child’s breath, is the greatest comfort for a mother (and father) missing their child at home. They are truly your greatest blessing.”

No one assigned these incredible women the task of being Camp Moms, but at Pinemere, that isn’t be necessary. Here, all the staff fulfill the role they were hired for and accept the greater responsibility for the overall wellbeing of each camper. These women are just being themselves — loving and generous women with hearts as big as the sun and the moon — and they shine their smiles as they put their arms around each little star at camp.

What a gift they are to the kids, the family at home and to the values of camp. I’ve been to many camps and have never quite experienced this concept: angels who teach an activity or deal with camp issues and seem to appear just when a child needs them most. It is supernatural and beautiful. And it is what makes Pinemere Pinemere.

Eytan Graubert is the director of Pinemere Camp in Stroudsburg.

IN HONOR RONI AND TOM ENGLERT

In honor of the birth of your grandson, Garrett

Evelyn and Jay Lipschutz

LISA AND BARNET FRAENKEL

In honor of the birth of your grandson, Michael Sebastian

Evelyn and Jay Lipschutz

PAM AND SCOTT KRIM

In honor of the birth of your grandson, Aaron Thomas

Laurie and Robby Wax

ARLENE AND IRA LEVINE

In honor of the birth of your granddaughter, Hannah Rose

Evelyn and Jay Lipschutz

JAY PLOTNICK

In honor of a speedy recovery

Roberta and Robert Kritzer

ARLENE SAMUELSON

Get well soon

Eileen Ufberg

STEPHANIE AND STEVE SZILAGYI

In honor of your daughter Jillian’s engagement to Rory

Roberta and Robert Kritzer

CRISSY AND JASON TOFF

In honor of your new home

Laurie and Robby Wax

EILEEN UFBERG

In honor of receiving the Kipnis-Wilson/ Friedland Award

Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald

Roberta and Robert Kritzer

SUSAN AND MARC VENGROVE

In honor of the birth of your grandson, Ronan

Evelyn and Jay Lipschutz

JERI AND LEN ZIMMERMAN

In honor of your son Zach’s marriage to Ashley

Roberta and Robert Kritzer

IN MEMORY SISTER

(Sister of Paula Joffe)

Vicki Wax

IRA (BOB) BORN

(Father of Ross Born, grandfather of Lisa Ellis)

Lenny Abrams

Laura and Bob Black

Sylvia and Sam Bub & Family

Patty and Ian Carlis

Sandra and Harold Goldfarb

Marlene and Arnan Finkelstein

Ellen and Phil Hof

Dee and Arny Kaplan

Beth and Wes Kozinn

Roberta and Robert Kritzer

Suzanne Lapiduss & Family

Evelyn and Jay Lipschutz

Elaine and Leon Papir

Randi and Donald Senderowitz

Vicki Wax

Valeska and Israel Zighelboim

RICHARD DERBY

(Brother of Albert Derby)

Barbara and Arthur Weinrach

JONATHAN DICKER

(Son of Neil Dicker)

Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald

RACHEL FRIEDMAN

(Mother of Adina Re’em)

Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald

Beth and Wes Kozinn

Suzanne Lapiduss & Family

Vicki Wax

RICHARD (RICH) GAFFNEY

(Husband of Lisa Gaffney)

Penny and Adam Roth

JEROME (JERRY) GINSBERG

(Husband of Gloria Ginsburg, father of Larry Ginsburg)

Lenny Abrams and Family

Marlene and Arnan Finkelstein

Carol and Stewart Furmansky

Shirley Furmansky

Beth and Wes Kozinn

Penny and Adam Roth

Randi and Donald Senderowitz

MAXINE MILLER

(Wife of Norman Miller, mother of Marla

Melman)

Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald

Marlene and Arnan Finkelstein

Suzanne Lapiduss

ALAN MORRISON

(Husband of Judy Morrison)

Roberta and Robert Kritzer

ELLEN (ELLIE) WEINBERGER

(Wife of Ben Weinberger, mother of Liz

Levy)