JCamp 180, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, equips over 100 Jewish nonprofit overnight camps and nearly 40 day camps across North America with knowledge, skills, and resources to help them develop long-term organizational excellence. That excellence is key to a camp’s ability to thrive and offer experiences that create lifelong Jewish connections.
As JCamp 180 draws 2025 to a close, the program is excited to welcome four camps — two in the US and two in Canada — into the JCamp 180 family. A warm camp welcome to:
- Bnos Maarava in Marshall, Indiana. Camp Bnos Maarava provides the highest level of camping excellence and summer fun to Orthodox Jewish children from the Midwest and beyond.
- Camp Kinneret-Biluim in Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec. A Young Judea Canada camp, Kinneret-Biluim supports personal growth and the development of self-confidence and meaningful friendships for campers, many of whom go on to lead in staff roles.
- Camp Massad of Manitoba in Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba. Camp Massad of Manitoba is a pluralistic Jewish summer camp that fosters Jewish identity, leadership, and community through immersive Hebrew language experiences and creative programming.
- Camps Airy & Louise in Thurmont, Maryland, and Cascade, Maryland, respectively. Camps Airy & Louise is the only brother-sister Jewish overnight camp in the US. It was founded in 1922 and 1924 by Aaron and Lillie Straus to provide Jewish children an affordable and memorable summer camp experience.
With their geographical and cultural diversity, these four camps enhance the spectrum of nonprofit Jewish day and overnight camps served by JCamp 180.
As they get started with JCamp 180, each camp will be assigned a relationship manager to review its strengths and opportunities. Working together, camp staff and the relationship manager will determine which JCamp 180 offerings might best help the camp achieve long-term organizational effectiveness and financial sustainability.
These offerings might include coaching, consulting, participation in professional development programs, or other learning opportunities. The camps will also be eligible to take part in both the Forward Together and Endowment Accelerator Matching Grant programs. These grants help generate additional capital, unrestricted, and endowment gifts for the camps.
JCamp 180’s vision is of a world where Jews live more Jewishly because of their transformative camp experiences. The more camps we can help thrive long term, the more families that will benefit from these life-defining experiences. The JCamp 180 team looks forward to supporting these four camps, alongside many others, in the year — and years — ahead.