JCF awards record number of camp scholarships | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

JCF awards record number of camp scholarships

The March issue of The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle carried a JTA article about how Jewish summer camps have received increasing numbers of applications for financial aid, and are allocating increasingly large amounts of money to provide it.

Milwaukee is participating in this national trend.

The Jewish Community Foundation of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation for a long time has been awarding scholarships to Milwaukee area children and teenagers attending Jewish overnight camps or participating in summer Israel programs.

This year, the JCF received 94 applications and awarded 84 scholarships, a record number. Last year, 63 scholarships were awarded.

The scholarship funds for camp attendance were established by several donors, beginning in 1973, and have grown over time thanks to additional donations and prudent management, according to Caren Goldberg, JCF executive director.

She also said that as the funds have grown, the committee has been able to award more scholarships. This year’s were drawn from 11 different funds.

Applicants submit a separate request for each child in a family. In addition to occupational and income information from both parents, applicants are asked to provide a description of the camp or program, information about the total cost of attendance, whether they have sought scholarship funds from any other sources (camp, synagogue), the amount of the family’s contribution, and any other circumstances that should be considered.

Foundation staff redacts all identifying information, Goldberg said.

“The scholarships are totally need-based,” said Goldberg, “and when the committee reviews the applications, they don’t know who the families are. They look at the need of each applicant individually and make the best award so the child can attend.”

Allan Carneol is the current committee chair. Goldberg said Carneol and fellow committee members spend hours poring over the applications and in meetings to ensure that the funds are disbursed to as many youth as possible.

Scholarships can be used to attend any recognized Jewish overnight camp or Israel program. This year’s recipients are attending 26 different camps, among them camps run by Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform religious movements, and by organizations, such as Young Judaea and B’nai B’rith.

“We have kids going to [Steve and Shari Sadek Family Camp] Interlaken, Gan Israel in Detroit, B’nai B’rith Beber Camp, Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute, Camp Young Judaea, Camp Agudah Midwest, and others,” Goldberg said.

That bodes well for the future of Milwaukee’s Jewish community, according to the results of a 2011 study by the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

The study, titled “Camp Works,” used data from 26 Jewish community population surveys. It compared attitudes and behaviors of adults who reported attending Jewish camps as children with those who had not.

Responses covered 13 different areas, including synagogue membership, holiday observances, donating to Jewish causes and charities, and connection to Israel.

In all cases, camp attendance increased the likelihood of participation and identification.

As reported in a March 1, 2011, JTA story about the study, camp alumni are 55 percent more likely than Jewish adults who did not attend camp to say they are “very emotionally attached to Israel.”

They also are 45 percent more likely to attend synagogue at least once a month; and 30 percent more of them donate to Jewish federations.

The telephone and Internet surveys for the “Jewish Community Study of Greater Milwaukee 2011” asked area Jewish adults whether they had attended or worked at a Jewish day camp and a Jewish overnight camp when they were younger.

In the telephone survey, 43 percent of Milwaukee area Jewish adults responded yes for the day camp and 56.8 percent said yes for overnight camp. Of those in the Internet survey, 48.5 percent and 51.6 percent responded yes, respectively.

Amy Waldman is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer and coordinator of the ACCESS Program for Displaced Homemakers at the Milwaukee Area Technical College.