22 | FEBRUARY 25 • 2021
T
amarack Camps is
tirelessly working to
reopen for the summer
of 2021, and, at the same time,
planting seeds for the future.
As my ancestors planted for
me, so too will I plant for my
children. — Talmud Ta’anit 23a
As represented in the fol-
lowing parable: One day, Honi
the Circle Maker was walking on
the road and saw a man plant-
ing a carob tree. Honi asked the
man, “How long will it take for
this tree to bear fruit?”
The man replied, “Seventy
years.” Honi then asked the
man, “And do you think you
will live another 70 years and
eat the fruit of this tree?” The
man answered, “Perhaps not.
However, when I was born into
this world, I found many carob
trees planted by my father and
grandfather. Just as they planted
trees for me, I am planting trees
for my children and grandchil-
dren so they will be able to eat
the fruit of these trees.”
Like the old man in the
above story planted seeds
for the next generation, so
must Tamarack Camps. “We
didn’t need a pandemic to
show just how important a
robust endowment can help,
but these difficult days (with
a halt of camper revenue and
fundraising events), most
certainly magnified its impor-
tance,” says Lee Trepeck,
Tamarack’s chief executive
officer.
Prior to the spread of
COVID-19, Tamarack was in
early discussions to launch
a comprehensive campaign
with a significant focus on
endowment. While that ini-
tiative is on hold, efforts to
raise its scholarship endow-
ment have been jump-started
by the William Davidson
Foundation. Each year,
Tamarack provides almost
$900,000 in scholarships, but
in these challenging times, the
need for 2021 is expected to
exceed $1 million. Its schol-
arship endowment (which
annually spins off roughly
5%) currently covers less than
15% of that amount.
In 2019, with an effort to
catapult Tamarack’s endow-
ment fundraising initia-
tives, the William Davidson
Foundation provided a
grant of $1 million toward
scholarship endowment.
Further, through December
2021, the William Davidson
Foundation has agreed to
match, $1 to $1, scholarship
endowment dollars raised and
received by Tamarack Camps.
Once this match is fully real-
ized, Tamarack Camps will
have increased its scholarship
endowment by an additional
$1.6 million.
Thanks to many gener-
ous contributors, Tamarack
Camps is over halfway to its
matching goal. (The William
Davidson Foundation will
match up to $800,000, of
which Tamarack has raised
$450,000 to date.)
Three of several new
endowment supporters who
have made a significant
impact toward reaching the
matching challenge are the
Blumenstein Family, “TSS ’91”
and Ruth Hurvitz.
THE BLUMENSTEIN FAMILY
Penny and Harold
Blumenstein, their son and
daughter-in-law, Ricky
and Carol, and family, are
well-recognized leaders in the
Detroit Jewish community;
however, they are not tradi-
tionally, per se, “Tamarack
people” (none of them were
campers, served on the board,
or participated in its pro-
grams). Nonetheless, they
recognize that Jewish summer
camp and Tamarack Camps,
in particular, are a powerful
indicator for living Jewishly.
As a family, the Blumensteins
are motivated to ensure that
a Jewish soul grows and pros-
pers within our community.
In addition to a generous 2020
Through December 2021, the William
Davidson Foundation has agreed to
match scholarship endowment dollars
raised and received by Tamarack Camps.
Tamarack Camps:
Planting its Legacy
ROBIN KAUFMAN TREPECK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
OUR COMMUNITY
TOP: Jason Zaks at Tamarack
with sisters Lisa (Zaks) Klein
and Alana (Zaks) Chakrabarti.
ABOVE: The Blumenstein
Family (and penguins)!
COURTESY OF TAMARACK CAMPS
COURTESY OF TAMARACK CAMPS
continued on page 24