Marshall Serlin got his application in by the early-bird deadline for this summer’s Hevrah, the 20-day session for ninth- and 10th-graders at Santa Rosa’s Camp Newman. So the Sacramento teen was devastated to learn that he was rejected because of lack of space — he ended up as number 14 on the waiting list.
“The Hevrah session always fills up fast,” said Joanne Greene, chair of Camps Newman and Swig, the Reform movement’s summer camps in California. “By that time, these kids have been coming for several years, and they return with their friends. Also, this session is in the middle of the summer, which is the best time for families. But this year, it just filled up ridiculously fast.”
While that session is popular for everyone, the demand for it was especially high for boys. Many other boys, in addition to Serlin, ended up on the waiting list, too.
Some of the rejected campers called their rabbis, who in turn called the Newman office, asking if anything could be done.
Ruben Arquilevich, executive director of Camp Newman, thought for a bit.
Yes, as a matter of fact, there was.
It just so happened that the camp had been selected to participate recently in a matching-funds program from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
The Massachusetts-based foundation had recently announced “Meet Your Match,” a program aimed at encouraging new Jewish-camp donors to give more than $10,000.
The foundation offered a 50 percent match for gifts from new donors of $10,000 to $50,000, or gifts from previous donors who triple a gift of at least $10,000 made within the last three years.
The foundation was even going to provide assistance, in the form of a consultant and professional fund-raiser, but that wasn’t needed in Newman’s case.
Arquilevich first went to the Union for Reform Judaism, to see whether the Reform body would approve the construction of an additional cabin. It did.
He then put out the call to numerous rabbis in the area, describing the camp’s plight. He explained that if $50,000 were raised, Newman would qualify for another $25,000 from the Grinspoon Foundation. With $75,000, the camp could build a new boys cabin, allowing 14 more boys to attend the overbooked session.
Arquilevich put out the call, and waited.
He didn’t have to wait very long. A total of $50,000 was raised from rabbis’ discretionary funds in only four days.
Rabbis such as Janet Marder, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, who was one of those who fielded an upset call from a synagogue member whose son had been placed on the waiting list.
“I did what I could and I’m really happy it worked out so well,” Marder said.
The camp is now planning to build the new bunk, which will be ready by summer.
In a related development, the Santa Rosa-based camp has also gotten a grant called a Cornerstone Fellowship from the Foundation for Jewish Camping. Counselors who have been on staff at Newman for three years are eligible for a leadership training program, and will then lead workshops during the summer for other counselors. They will also receive a $500 stipend.