>> on the cover

Ben Morton paints

a viaduct in Detroit

while working with

Summer in the City.

New Tamarack Camps village seeks to make the world a better place.

Leslie Spector I JN Intern

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

including 12 Israelis from the Central Galilee,
Detroit's Partnership2Gether region.
"This was my first year as a Tamarack
camper," said Ben Morton of Chicago. "My
friend convinced me to sign up, and I'm real-
ly glad she did. Meeting and getting to know
the Israeli campers was such a cool and new
experience for me. It was the best:'
During the four-week session, camp-
ers spent the first week at Camp Maas in
Ortonville learning about philanthropy,
Jewish values and customs through introduc-
tory programs and exercises. The second
and third weeks, campers participated in
community service work outside of camp,
and the fourth week was spent back at Camp
Maas wrapping up and enjoying main camp
activities.
Tikkun Olam campers spent a week in
Ohio's Hocking Hills area, where they worked
with Habitat for Humanity on a special-
needs long-term housing project. Campers
renovated the home in nearby Lancaster by
painting, landscaping and cleaning. In addi-
tion to community service work, campers
engaged in exciting activities around the city.
They spent their nights in tents along the
Hocking River.
"The trip to Ohio was my favorite said
Omri Eyal of Israel's Jezreel Valley. "It was
the first time we did community service
outside of camp, which felt good. We also did
unusual activities, like zip lining and mini
golf, which was a lot of fun:'
Cicurel said, "It was amazing to see the
kids go from having fun to taking that
mature step outside of camp doing service
work:'
After a week in Hocking Hills, Tikkun
Olam campers spent a week working with

14 August 1 • 2013

Adi Uliel (from Israel) helps paint the

special-needs home.

Summer in the City, a nonprofit organiza-
tion striving to make Detroit a better place
through volunteerism. Campers painted
murals, performed service work at Pasteur
Elementary School in Detroit and worked on
a community garden.
After all their hard work, the group
attended a Tigers game and spent the night in
Detroit. Because of limited space, some stayed
at the Summer in the City house and others
with Tamarack alumni living in Detroit.

Learning To Allocate

Tamarack received a $1,000 grant from New
York-based Jewish Teen Funders Network for
Tikkun Olam campers to allocate to nonprof-
it agencies in Metro Detroit. The grant also
included training for Cicurel and his Tikkun

Alayna Brasch writes haikus with her
Summer in the City "buddy" before a
field trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Olam staff members: Steven Hertzberg, Kim
Milke and Osnat Yechimovitz.
Cicurel and Carly Weinstock, Tamarack
Camps program director, chose the
Holocaust Memorial Center (HMC) and
JARC, both in Farmington Hills, and
Forgotten Harvest in Oak Park as the three
agencies that would benefit from the grant.
These three organizations wrote proposals
explaining how they would use the grant
money, and campers were able to visit all
three sites where they had the opportunity to
speak to the agency's staff members and ask
questions.
"The biggest impact the site visits had
on the campers was that they weren't just
grant proposals anymore Cicurel said. "The
campers were able to see the real works each

organization is doing.
At Forgotten Harvest, they saw the food
and the trucks and realized how much need
there is in our community. At JARC, they got
to meet the participants. At the HMC, they
got to go on a tour and learned the impor-
tance of the center. These all became real
moments to them:'
At the end of the session, Tikkun Olam
campers led a program to announce the grant
recipients. Campers, representing the new
Camp Maas Tikkun Olam Teen Foundation,
decided all three agencies were deserving and
divided the $1,000 among them.
"It was very impressive to see how much
these kids learned about the community
and how thoughtful they were in terms of
how they allocated the money," said Deena
Lockman, Tamarack Camps development
director. "The program was held at Camp
Maas in the Donor's Circle, which was very
appropriate because that's where we honor
the philanthropists who donate to Tamarack"
Tikkun Olam campers spent a long sum-
mer learning Judaic values and making a
contribution to the community; however,
one of the most important things they
learned from their experience is that Metro
Detroit has a great need for money and vol-
unteers.
"This was an amazing first summer of
Tikkun Olam, and I was happy to be part of
it:' said Cicurel, who is spending second ses-
sion at camp working on plans for Tikkun
Olam next year. "I hope the program is able
to grow and that more campers become
involved.
"I also hope more organizations in the
community reach out to these kids because
they are the future leaders of our community.
These are the kids who want to make a dif-
ference:'

❑