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Media
Capital Camps Instills Values—Jewish and Environmental—In Its Campers
It’s summertime, and for many families that means it’s time for camp. This summer, one camping organization based in the Washington, DC area is standing out from the rest.
Capital Camps was founded to promote Jewish education and identity. Since Judaism places a high value on environmental responsibility, Capital Camps sees its new partnership with Carbonfund.org as a natural extension of its core missions.
Founded in 1987, Capital Camps is a nonprofit overnight camp that promotes informal Jewish education via a fun, meaningful and nurturing experience, with the long term goal of enhancing Jewish identity and community vitality.
Capital Camps has a 267 acre facility in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, just over one hour from metropolitan Washington D.C., and Baltimore. It is an American Camp Association (ACA) accredited camp, a member agency of the JCC Association, and a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
In 2002, Capital Camps undertook a multi-million dollar redevelopment of its facility. When the camp was rebuilt, some efforts were made toward eco-responsibility, such as the installation of a solar heater for the pool. However, according to Hunter Gold, Executive Vice President of Capital Camps, it wasn’t until more recently that the camp really started to focus on environmental responsibility. “Environmentalism is really a core value of Judaism,” said Gold. “There’s a Hebrew term—‘shomrei adam’—that encompasses the understanding that we should take care of the Earth, and that people are its stewards and guardians.”
Capital Camps also makes the effort to teach its campers environmental and conservation values. Younger campers take day hikes and camp on the grounds, while older ones embark on backpacking trips of up to three days, taking advantage of the camp’s location three miles from the Appalachian Trail.
“Ultimately,” said Gold, “our constituents were the ones who wanted this, and we’ve had an extremely positive reaction from them. They want their children to have exposure to Jewish values and environmental values, and at Capital Camps we can help those two go together the way they should.”
For more about Capital Camps, visit www.capitalcamps.org.
