{"id":36036,"date":"2021-01-15T03:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T11:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=36036"},"modified":"2021-01-13T12:12:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T20:12:27","slug":"camps-plan-tentatively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/01\/15\/camps-plan-tentatively\/","title":{"rendered":"Camps plan tentatively"},"content":{"rendered":"

Normally, this issue of the Independent <\/em>would feature our third Camp Guide of the season, with several camps advertising their summer sessions, and several articles on various topics related to Jewish camp. But COVID-19 seriously affected last summer\u2019s programming and it\u2019s making this year\u2019s planning difficult, to say the least. Camp Hatikvah and Camp Miriam \u2013 which are overnight camps \u2013 have been particularly impacted by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

With record camper enrolment, 2020 was slated to be Camp Hatikvah\u2019s best year ever. By the third week of March, however, it became apparent that the summer wasn\u2019t going to go as planned. By the end of May, the Provincial Health Officer had announced that overnight camps would be prohibited from operating and Camp Hatikvah had to cancel its upcoming season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was devastating,\u201d said Liza Rozen-Delman, the camp\u2019s director. \u201cMy heart immediately broke for the 700 participants and 80 young counselors who were signed up for our programming. After such a hard few months in lockdown, I knew everyone was hanging on to the hope that they would still get to go to camp. The fact that this was no longer a possibility was so hard for everyone. I just wanted to fix this for kids but was helpless to do so. It was a very difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cancellation also created a financial crisis, as there was no program revenue to cover fixed costs, such as insurance fees, site maintenance and administrative expenses. Camp Miriam faced financial issues as well, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver provided emergency funding to both camps last April.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community made it clear that we would not face this challenge alone,\u201d said Joanna Wasel, Camp Hatikvah board president. \u201cThey knew we were in trouble and they immediately felt the call to action.\u201d By the first week of June, Hatikvah had raised enough money to cover all of their 2020 fixed operational expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was one of the hardest years in the camp\u2019s history and yet, in a strange way, it was also one of our most meaningful,\u201d said Wasel. \u201cThe way the community stepped up for us is an incredible affirmation of the value of our work and the impact Camp Hatikvah has had on generations of people. It has touched us beyond words and we will be forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLast spring, as the reality of the pandemic hit, it was as if the rug had been pulled out from under us,\u201d said Leah Levi, registrar of Camp Miriam. \u201cWe were scrambling to figure out how to provide what we do each summer on Gabriola Island \u2013 the fun, magic, community, friendship and Jewish experiences that our campers have come to expect from us. It was very overwhelming and we were sort of lost, until our youth staff stepped up and started planning for what was possible: day camps in Vancouver, Victoria and Portland, and even online programming for those who couldn\u2019t attend the day camps. We rented space with the JCC\u2019s Camp Shalom at Vancouver Talmud Torah, and in Victoria at the JCC. Donors and the Vancouver Jewish Federation backed our plans with financial support and, as they say, the rest is history!\u201d<\/p>\n

The camp\u2019s staff, who are all between the ages of 17 and 22, got \u201cto spend the summer being mentors and learning valuable leadership skills,\u201d said Levi. \u201cParents and kids were grateful that we gave them a break from each other and a fun, unplugged, Jewish, social experience during COVID. For over 200 campers, COVID-19 took a backseat for six-and-a-half hours a day, and they were able to enjoy a physically distanced \u2018normal.\u2019 Even though they weren\u2019t on Gabriola Island, campers and staff alike felt that they were at Miriam. As one camper put it, \u2018We learned that Camp Miriam is not a place, it\u2019s a feeling and we can take it anywhere.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For this coming summer, Camp Miriam has opened registration for three two-week sessions on Gabriola.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll registrations are considered \u2018pre-registrations\u2019 and everyone is on a waitlist,\u201d said Levi. \u201cWe will only accept campers when we have permission from the B.C. health authority, as their decision made last spring to not allow overnight camp still stands\u2026. If we do not get permission to open … we will offer similar programming as last summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hatikvah<\/em> translates to \u201cthe hope\u201d in English and, while COVID is still raging, Camp Hatikvah remains hopeful they will be able to operate this summer, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are full for the upcoming season,\u201d Rozen-Delman said. \u201cKids need camp, perhaps now more than ever, and we are going to do whatever we can to get them back there this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acknowledging that much of the situation is out of their hands, Rozen-Delman is planning for a variety of scenarios. \u201cAnd, while it is hard to face so many unknowns,\u201d she said, \u201cwe are determined to find creative solutions to whatever challenges lay ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Normally, this issue of the Independent would feature our third Camp Guide of the season, with several camps advertising their summer sessions, and several articles on various topics related to Jewish camp. But COVID-19 seriously affected last summer\u2019s programming and it\u2019s making this year\u2019s planning difficult, to say the least. Camp Hatikvah and Camp Miriam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4389,2113,5864,9717,9784,7750,20173,2087,6153],"class_list":["post-36036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local","tag-camp-hatikvah","tag-camp-miriam","tag-children","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-joanna-wasel","tag-leah-levi","tag-liza-rozen-delman","tag-summer-camp"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36036\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}