Women’s Board 2021 Year in Review
2021 was a successful year for JCC Chicago Women’s Board. Thank you to the over 250 people who donated towards the Summer of Smiles and Be our Friend campaigns helping raise $135,000 to support JCC Chicago camp scholarship programs last year.
A Jewish camp has numerous benefits for children including helping kids succeed beyond childhood, creating life-long friendships that last beyond the summer, and even when camp ends, the Jewish community and tradition continue!
One donor shares why they supported camp scholarship: “Now more than ever kids need interaction with other kids after the isolation of the pandemic. My kids went to camp and the growth benefits were obvious. I want to give back so other kids can experience the benefits of a Jewish camp.”
The Summer of Smiles and Be our Friend campaigns ensure that every family who wants and needs a summer camp experience will be served regardless of their ability to pay.
You can help put a smile on a child’s face and make a real difference in his or her life by contributing to the Summer of Smiles campaign.
You can also help a child continue to make lifelong friendships and experience Jewish traditions by becoming a Friend of the Women’s Board.
The sale of tribute cards is also a major source of scholarship funds for JCC Chicago day and overnight camps. A Tribute Card is a wonderful way to honor a loved one’s memory, wish a friend a speedy recovery, rejoice in a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, acknowledge a child’s naming/dedication, wish a couple “Mazel Tov” on their wedding or anniversary, or celebrate any simcha. In 2021, the Women’s Board introduced a new blank card featuring artwork from our Early Childhood centers. View and purchase your tribute cards online or at the front desk of Bernard Weinger JCC in Northbrook.
Another exciting milestone to come out last year was another successful summer at Apachi Day Camp. JCC Chicago’s Women’s Board awarded the Imagine That! grant to Apachi Rogers Park and Apachi Evanston for the innovative “Derech Teva ‘Nature’s Way’ Archery & Outdoor Adventure Center.”
This program was awarded $7,000 to create a new archery range with archery equipment and an outdoor adventure center including an outdoor climbing wall with climbing equipment, outdoor cooking, and outdoor adventure handbooks for campers. Apachi Day Camp Staff was trained on how to safely use the climbing wall, archery, and outdoor cooking specialties. Working with on-staff camp Rabbis, the programming was connected to Apachi’s Jewish learning program focusing on important Jewish values of appreciating nature and our responsibility to protect it all while building a love for outdoor adventure over the summer.
Karen Sperber, past chair of JCC Chicago Women’s Board shares, “I love this part of our commitment to the J. The innovations are remarkable, and the directors are amazing leaders who come up with outstanding ideas. With such wonderful, insightful, and exciting submissions from camp directors, it was a very difficult choice. These directors are full of ideas, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness in their ideas for their campers. Shout all to all.”
The Women’s Board is preparing to review Summer 2022 submissions and will announce their recipient in the late Spring.