Coming to camp has many parallels with the Exodus story. When campers get ready for that first summer at camp, they are leaving everything they know; they are leaving home for an unknown land; they have to have faith that it will all work out in the end. (And, no, I’m not saying that our lives at home are Egypt or that parents are enslaving their kids… it’s an imperfect metaphor, but still one that is valuable.)
GFC Unplugged
Outside of camp, we are distracted by the need to stay connected: the escape into a video game, the instant availability of a movie or a video clip. When we bring that wired world into camp, we have so much less time to spend with those who make up our camp, our unit, and our bunk. If camp is truly going to remain a world apart for 2-3 weeks, leaving our electronics at home has to be part of the plan.
What’s in a Sunset Part One: The Experience
There’s nothing like a sunset over the beit k’nesset on a Friday night during Shabbat services. It’s almost a tradition to stand overlooking Lake Jake with a group of friends and take pictures as the sun sets over the hill. Even though there are sunsets every single day, there’s something extra special on Shabbat that makes you stop and look for more than a few seconds.
We Are Family
By Scott Braswell Assistant Director and Communications Director for GFC One of the questions we constantly get when we go on the road is from parents wanting to come for the summer and experience camp just like their children. While we currently do not offer anything for campers over 18 during the summer, we do offer our Machaneh Mishpacha (Family Retreat) at the beginning of March to give parents and their children a taste of Greene Family Camp. Families get to experience GFC together while at the same engaging in separate activities designed for them. Our younger campers for example [...]
Hanging Out Around the Virtual Campfire
A group of five or six girls sitting around, talking, laughing to the point of tears.
The scene could be anyone, anywhere, and it has repeated itself countless times over the years: on a bunk bed at Greene Family Camp, around the campfire under the stars, in dorm rooms, and now, a few years after college, in front of our computers in a Google “Hangout,” Google’s multi-person video chat.
Olim Fellows Advocacy Weekend
Recently, Greene Family Camp’s Olim Fellows and directors attended Fall Kallah for the Olim Fellowship program. The Olim Fellowship is a two-year program that teaches camp staff members strategies on how to perform their jobs to the highest potential and involves five URJ camps across the country: URJ Eisner Camp, URJ Crane Lake Camp, URJ Camp Harlam, URJ Camp Coleman, and the newest member, URJ Greene Family Camp. This Kallah was hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as at URJ Camp Coleman in Cleveland, Georgia.
