Jewish Overnight Camp Scholarship Funds Available for Miami-Dade Families

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation is now accepting applications for Jewish camp scholarships for children between the ages of 8 and 17. This is the tenth year Federation is offering need-based scholarships available to Miami-Dade County families to help make Jewish overnight summer camps more affordable.

This funding assistance is available for 11 Jewish overnight camps, primarily concentrated in the Southeastern U.S. region. The camps include a wide range of programs sponsored by the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist movements, as well as Hadassah (Young Judaea) and JCC-sponsored overnight programs. (See the list below.) Financial assistance is limited to one session only.

Applications are due to Federation no later than February 24, 2012. Those submitted by that date will be given initial consideration. Applications received after that date will be considered on an availability-of-funds basis.

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must live in Miami-Dade County. Families must demonstrate a financial need and submit, in addition to an application, the appropriate paperwork and verification of acceptance by the child in one of the camps eligible for funding.

Recognizing that Jewish overnight camp is a significant vehicle for Jewish engagement, the Annual Federation/UJA Campaign has allocated $100,000 each year since 2002 for funding assistance. This year, 135 need-based scholarships were awarded to children, enabling them to attend a variety of overnight camps from all religious streams, as well as JCC and youth group movements.

Click here for the 2012 Camp Scholarship application. For more information, call 786.866.8497 or email egoldberg@gmjf.org.

Overnight Camps Eligible for Scholarship Assistance:

Conservative Camp

• Ramah Darom (Clayton, GA), sponsored by National Ramah Commission and JTS. Visit ramahdarom.com.

JCC-Sponsored Camp

• Camp Barney Medintz (Dunwoody, GA), summer resident camp of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. Visit campbarney.org.

Orthodox Camps

• Camp Darom (Natchez Trace State Park, Wildersville, TN), Modern Orthodox Zionist camp for children entering grades 3-9, sponsored by Memphis-based Baron Hirsch Congregation. Visit baronhirsch.org and click on Camp Darom link.
• Camp Agudah (for boys) & Camp Bnos (for girls) (Ferndale, NY), sponsored by Agudath Israel of America. For more information, call 212.797.8172.
• Camp Emunah (Greenfield Park, NY), Chabad Lubavitch program for girls 8-15. For more information, call 718-735-0200 or visit campemunah.com.
• Camp Gan Israel Florida (Groveland, FL), Chabad Lubavitch program for boys 8-14. Visit cgiflorida.com.

Reconstructionist Camp

• Camp JRF (South Sterling, PA), sponsored by Jewish Reconstructionist Federation & Jewish Reconstructionist Camping Corp. Visit campjrf.org.

Reform (URJ-Sponsored) Camps

• Camp Coleman (Cleveland, GA). Visit campcoleman.com.
• Kutz Camp (Warwick, NY), NFTY National Leadership Center camp for grades 9-12. Visit kutzcamp.org.

Young Judaea (Hadassah-Sponsored) Camps

• Camp Judaea (Hendersonville, NC). Visit campjudaea.org.
• Camp Tel Yehudah (Barryville, NY), Young Judaea’s National Senior Leadership Camp for grades 9-12. Visit youngjudaea.org and click on Tel Yehudah link.