Cannonballing into the pool, playing gaga in the ball pit, singing “Shabbat shalom!” under open skies, shouting to be heard at raucous meals: even if you never went to camp, you’ve probably heard your share of secondhand nostalgia. For many, summer camp is an American Jewish rite of passage on par with a bar or bat mitzvah. And for some kids, summer camp is their first — and maybe only — exposure to the Jewish community. These moments are critical and can color a lifetime with positive associations.

Like many Jews raised in the New York area, Ilan Newman, age 17, spent the bulk of his formative summers at camp. From 2010 to 2019, he attended Explorer Day Camp in Queens. He spent the two Covid summers at Island Quest in Long Island before becoming a counselor.

Ilan is aware of how camp has affected him. “The friends I’ve made here are friends for life,” he says. “It’s incredible to play sports with guys who I know will be the best men at my wedding someday.” 

Island Quest Day Camp, where Ilan is working with fifth graders this summer, is on one of three campgrounds UJA-Federation purchased in the 1950s. Together, these sites — on Long Island, Rockland County and Staten Island — make up the Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds (HKC). Eleven different day camps from fourteen New York-area JCCs call these 505 acres home, and since 1953, hundreds of thousands of children have enjoyed their summers there.

In 2016, UJA embarked on a $35 million capital campaign to bring HKC into the 21st century. Today, HKC Long Island has accommodating home bases, rebuilt sports courts and athletic fields, and updated aquatic complexes. The HKC grounds may be new, but the joy they create is timeless. 

As Ilan put it, “The memories I make in a single summer are enough to last a lifetime.”