24 | FEBRUARY 25 • 2021 

gift to support the scholarship 
match, the family wishes to 
encourage others to join by 
further matching gifts made in 
2021 up to $100,000. Speaking 
for the family, Penny explained: 
“Camping creates a sense of 
community and strengthens 
Jewish identity more than any 
other Jewish experience. It’s not 
just a summer, it’s a lifetime!”

TSS ’91
A group of Tamarack alumni 
that shared special years at the 
“Greatest Place on Earth” cre-
ated a memorial scholarship 
endowment in memory of their 
campmate and friend, Jason 
Zaks. The fund was established 
by Jason’s TSS (Teen Service 
Staff) 1991 “family,
” the Zaks 
family, and friends to honor and 
joyfully remember Jason — and 
celebrate the profound impact 

Tamarack has had on their lives. 
The group reconnected 
during a Tamarack Alumni 
Havdalah and a subsequent 
reunion this summer; from 
that point, they quickly agreed 
to remain connected, honor 
Jason and actively participate 
in a meaningful gift to support 
camp. In less than two months, 
the group created the “Jason 
Zaks Memorial Scholarship 
Fund” and has already raised 
more than $35,000. The TSS ’91 
group is excited to continue to 
grow the endowment and help 
send more kids to camp — and, 
along that path, hopes to inspire 
other Tamarack alumni groups 
to create endowments of their 
own. 
For more information, visit 
https://tamarackcamps.com/
alumni/jason-zaks-memori-
al-fund. 

RUTH HURVITZ
Another Tamarack alumna and 
longtime friend to Tamarack, 
Ruth Hurvitz, started a scholar-
ship endowment in memory of 
her late husband, Alan, a long-
time executive board member 
of Tamarack Camps. 
 After witnessing the impact 
of Tamarack’s Teen Travel pro-
grams on his own children and 
wanting the same for others, 
Alan repeatedly challenged his 
fellow board members to make 
scholarships available for these 
iconic programs. Teen Travel 
scholarships were eventually 
approved in 2017. The Alan 
Hurvitz Alaska and Western 
Teen Travel Scholarship Fund 
now supports teens who may 
not otherwise afford the expe-
rience of a Tamarack Camps’ 
impactful and life-changing 
travel trip. 

Each of the above endow-
ment funds (and all contri-
butions to existing or newly 
created scholarship endowment 
funds throughout 2021) will 
have double the impact as 
they are fully matched by the 
William Davidson Foundation 
Match. 
We’re sowing the seeds to 
ensure Tamarack’s mission to 
build a vibrant community by 
providing enriching Jewish 
camping experiences for chil-
dren and families, respectful of 
financial ability, for tomorrow 
and beyond. 

To join in supporting Tamarack 

Camps’ endowment efforts, visit tama-

rackcamps.com/giving/endowment or, 

to set up a new endowment, contact 

Robin Kaufman Trepeck at rtrepeck@

tamarackcamps.com. This story first 

appeared in myjewishdetroit.org.

OUR COMMUNITY

TAMARACK CAMPS continued from page 22

C

arly Wolf’s boyfriend, 
Spencer Goldberg, 
had a cookie recipe he 
was using to capture hearts and 
stomachs before they ever met. 
But it wasn’t until well into the 
pandemic, after some convinc-
ing, that a dream about a cookie 
company became a reality. 
Goldberg and his mother, 
Barbara, along with Wolf, 
opened Gold Mountain Cookies 
in the final week of 2020. 
But just as the company was 
getting underway, Wolf’s grand-
mother Vita Lisnek passed away 
from COVID-19. 
Lisnek, whose family owned 
a bakery, moved to the Detroit 
area about five years ago so 
she could be closer to family. It 

was Jewish Family Service that 
played a monumental role in 
assisting Lisnek during her final 
years of life. 
In honor of her late grand-
mother, Wolf had the idea to 
name a cookie after her with a 
portion of the proceeds from 
each sale going back to JFS.
“JFS donated a lot of meals to 
her, always provided caregivers 
and just took really great care of 
her,
” Wolf said. “We thought it 
would be very nice to give some 
of the proceeds back to them 
since they helped her so much.
” 
The Red VelVita cookie was 
born — a red velvet cookie 
stuffed with cream cheese filling 
and white chocolate chips. 
The Red VelVita is also 

the first flavor to be a part of 
the company’s “Memorable 
Munchies” line, where custom-
ers can request the company 
create a cookie in honor of a 

loved one.
The Goldbergs are the 
owners and do all the bak-
ing, while Wolf does a lot of 
behind-the-scenes work as chief 
operations officer. Wolf’s sister 
and Goldberg’s brother are also 
involved with the company. 
With how much Lisnek 
meant to the family and how 
much JFS helped her, Wolf is 
grateful to be able to honor her 
legacy and pay it forward at the 
same time.
“I know my Grandma 
would be so thankful, proud 
and happy of everything we’re 
doing,
” Wolf said. “She loved 
cookies, so she would be 
thrilled. Just being able to give 
back to the people that helped 
her really means a lot to me, my 
mom and my whole family.
” 

Anyone can order by emailing gold-

mountaincookies@gmail.com or by 

direct messaging them on Facebook or 

Instagram. 

Portion of red velvet cookie company’s 
sales will go in gratitude to JFS.
In Honor of Grandma 

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

The Red 
VelVita

Carly 
Wolf

