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

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