By COLlive staff
What could a summer camp be busy with on Chanukah? Perhaps enjoying the last few weeks of calm before enrollment begins? Or maybe sending “Happy Chanukah” messages to all its campers? But for CGI Poconos, Chanukah this year was busier than ever.
After deciding to open their first-ever winter camp this upcoming holiday break, the staff at CGI Poconos geared up for a busy winter season.
A few weeks before Chanukah, while occupied with the enrollment and programming for their Winter Camp, the staff at CGI Poconos knew they had to share the light of Chanukah with their campers.
“Although planning a fundraising campaign and knee-deep in the Winter Camp enrollment, we undertook to send personal menorahs to each individual camper,” said Assistant Director Moshe Browd. Thanks to the help of several volunteers, within 48 hours all the menorahs were shipped with enough time to arrive before Chanukah at the homes of campers.
Additionally, the head staff from the summer, Rivky Berkowitz and Fraidy Thaler, spearheaded and arranged a Menorah lighting challenge for the campers. Throughout the year the staff maintain a strong relationship with the campers, and for them, Chanukah was going to be no different.
“We are grateful to have such amazing staff that months after the summer are still motivated and actively involved in bringing our campers closer to the warmth of Yiddishkeit,” said Director Gershon Sandler.
While last year’s head staff were overseeing this amazing challenge, directors Gershon and Devorah Sandler and family spent their Chanukah on a recruitment trip in South Florida visiting many Chabad houses and Hebrew schools to share information about camp programs.
Up the coast, in the camp office, the first-ever Winter Camp Scholarship Campaign successfully raised $40,000 to subsidize the tuition for campers from financially burdened families.
The Winter Camp, a boutique program for just 40 girls will take place during the public-school winter break from Thursday, December 23 – Sunday, January 2.
“We are very excited for this new phase of CGI Poconos, and we are anticipating an invigorating 10-day experience for these girls. We thank the head staff for all the work they are putting into creating this amazing program,” said Browd.
The Winter Camp head staff are:
Sara Newman – Los Angeles, CA
Altie Spielman – Crown Heights, NY
Rochele Klein – Crown Heights, NY
To find out more about CGI Poconos and the Winter Camp please visit https://cgipoconos.org
Go Rivky B🥳🥳🥳