I can still remember when my mother applied to Bronx House Emanuel Camps for scholarship so that my sister and I could go to camp. As an agency in the UJA-Federation system, the folks at Bronx House (now known as Berkshire-Hills Emanuel Camps) made sure we could go to camp, despite my family not having enough money to send us. Many years later, my mom, whose fortunes had slowly turned over the years, attended a fundraiser with me for our JCC, where she made a significant contribution to our own scholarship fund. "When I needed help for you kids," she told me, "people were there for us. Now it's my turn to give back so that someone else's children can go to camp. That's how it works."
One of the highest forms of tzedakah - I learned from my Hebrew School days - is when the giver and the receiver don't know one another. No one should be beholden to another; those of us who have the ability to give should do so with an open heart, while those of us who need a little help should never feel embarrassed to accept it. That's always been our philosophy here at the JCC, where the inability to pay has never prevented someone in need from attending a program, be it camp, preschool or membership. And who knows... maybe someday - like what my mom did - someone in need today will help someone else tomorrow.
On the front page of our website - www.friedbergjcc.org - there's a little button on the right that you can click on which says "Make a Donation". On page 2 of the donation page, you can then allocate your gift to anywhere you want it to go; just write in the box marked "my gift is a tribute to" the name of a person or program, and we'll take it from there. You can write "Camp Scholarship" or "Preschool Scholarship," or even the name of someone who you would like to honor. Maybe even your mom. After all, there's no better way to honor our mothers than by helping care for a child in need.
Warmest regards,
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
