As the summer camp season approaches, the Cleveland-based Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Supporting Foundation has pledged up to $60 million to the city’s Jewish Community Center to overhaul its day and overnight camps and youth programming. The donation is structured as a 4-to-1 match: For every dollar that the community raises for the project, the Mandel Foundation will provide four.

Representing what the foundation said was the largest donation to an individual JCC, the gift will fund renovations at the Mandel JCC’s Camp Wise overnight camp, and expand the JCC’s main Beachwood campus to house all of its day camp programming. 

“Investing in the Jewish camp experience is among the most effective things we can do to ensure Jewish continuity. This partnership creates an opportunity for children to discover that being Jewish is joyful, relevant, and theirs to own for life,” Jehuda Reinharz, president and CEO of the foundation, said in a statement. 

According to the organization, the donation aims to address a 31% rise in families “seeking Jewish connection,” identified in a recent study of Cleveland’s Jewish population. The investment in summer camps is specifically geared toward engaging children who aren’t enrolled in Jewish day schools.

 “By creating these world-class environments, we are ensuring our children build their most transformative summer memories and lifelong friendships right here in their own Cleveland Jewish community. This investment allows us to finally bridge the ‘belonging gap’ and build the future our community deserves,” Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the Mandel JCC, said in a statement.

 The donation is meant to expand Mandel JCC’s camping capacity to accommodate 1,300 campers each summer.

The Beachwood campus will be redeveloped to become a year-round Jewish Youth Hub, including a climate-controlled fieldhouse for sports, wellness and community use, along with a renovated theater and an upgraded aquatics center.

Camp Wise, an overnight camp built with support from Jewish philanthropist Samuel D. Wise in 1907, will be updated with new cabins with in-unit bathrooms, replacing the existing cabins from 1966. The donation will also fund a new dining hall, recreation center, arts center, and staff housing. 

Construction will be scheduled around the summer camp seasons, with completion targeted for June 2028.

The summer camp donation marks the second major gift by the foundation to Cleveland Jewish life in recent years. Last January, the foundation pledged $90 million for the city’s Jewish day schools, also as a matching grant.