Metro West JCF Receives Record-breaking Jewish Camping Gift

The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest NJ (JCF), the planned giving and endowment arm of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, will house the largest endowed community-based Jewish camp program in North America, thanks to a $5 million gift and other support aimed at ensuring that generations of local children attend Jewish overnight camps.

The Paula and Jerry Gottesman Family Supporting Foundation of JCF recently approved the gift in support of a permanent Greater MetroWest Jewish Camp Fund to be housed at JCF.

The Gottesman Foundation gift and gifts from other donors will create the first endowed full-time Jewish camp position in a federation in North America. It will also provide ongoing support for several related programs: as many as 250 incentive grants for first-time overnight campers each summer, more affordable camp options for families, a “pipeline” program to encourage Jewish day campers to transition to Jewish overnight camp, and “innovations” funding for programs that bring the power of Jewish camp to the community year-round.

The Camp Enterprise is headquartered at The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life, Federation’s Jewish identity agency. As part of the move to endow the Jewish camp program, Federation has agreed to provide annual funding to the Jewish camp program at a minimum of $50,000 a year beginning in 2014.