Skokie Review

November 6, 2008
By MIKE ISAACS

Campers and staff who attended the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago's Camp Chi recently got together once again to celebrate the completion of another special summer.

The annual Camp Chi reunions, one for campers and staff and another for staff in training, mark the closing chapter of the summer of 2008 at a camp that first began in 1921.

But this year's summer installment of Camp Chi was, perhaps, just a bit more special because of the introduction of new programs that further the mission of teaching kids kavod (respect) and chesed (kindness). Camp officials were not certain how many campers would sign on to this first year of "CHIne On," for example, an elective program for kids of all ages calling for them to develop their own "random acts of kindness."

But many of them did, and they came back from their Wisconsin summer home with nothing but good things to say.

"I thought it would be fun to do nice things for other people," said Mia Tempkin of Skokie, who spent 27 days at the Wisconsin camp. "It was just fun helping other people."

Tempkin and her fellow CHIne On compatriots set up a mobile lemonade stand, providing refreshing drinks to those who were thirsty. Another activity was spraying bug spray to keep pests away from campers and staff.

Rewarding time

Gabe Elizer of Skokie, 11, another 27-day participant at the camp, said he signed up for CHIne On because he thought helping people would be rewarding. He helped make greeting cards for some of the staff and handed out Hershey kisses.

"I had a great summer," he said, all smiles. "When someone was having a bad day, we helped make them feel better."

CHIne On was one of three summer-long programs funded from a $1,500 grant through the JCC Association, the umbrella organization for JCCs in North America, and the Legacy Heritage Fund.

The grant provided Jewish summer campers with the opportunity to engage in community service activities, similar to the Days of Caring and Sharing projects at the JCC Maccabi Games each August. The purpose is to teach tikkun olam (repairing the world) by example, so that campers learn ways to incorporate these values into their lives. Grant recipients were selected based on submissions of community-service project proposals.

In addition to CHIne On, other programs of a similar nature were also offered.

Some campers did relief work for the nearby Lake Delton area and collected supplies (bleach, batteries, rubber gloves, shampoo, soap, old clothes, etc.) to donate to a local church. During Shalom Week, campers worked on artistic projects representing and promoting peace, such as making hamsas (Israeli good-luck charms shaped like a hand with two thumbs), colored paper "doves of peace," and writing letters to the families of missing Israeli soldiers. The Staff-in-Training members constructed a sculpture of the word "love," decorated with recycled pop cans and wood.

The shalom bayit program taught campers to work on shalom within their lives. Each cabin had a jar of thought-provoking questions. Selecting and discussing a few topics from the jar each day taught them to listen and respect each other's opinions.

"Instead of focusing on one day of community service, we used this year's grant to create larger initiatives that focused on experientially teaching shalom, chesed and kavod. These programs exposed campers to Jewish values and activities that will help shape their interactions with others well beyond the summer at camp," said Camp Chi Director Ron Levine.

Camp Chi Assistant Director Jamie Lake said the JCC has emphasized value-based programs with a focus on core values in recent years. The new programs at Camp Chi, she said, expanded on that philosophy.

CHIne On had groups of campers this summer working with counselors to plan and execute activities of all kinds -- baking for the kitchen staff, giving out hugs, washing golf carts and folding laundry.

Ariel Elizer, 15, of Skokie said she loved making thank you notes for the kitchen staff as part of the CHIne On program.

"They were so thankful," she said. "They were very grateful."

Sara Orlan, 16, of Lincolnwood painted bathrooms with her CHIne On friends. That may not sound like the most fun of all summer camp activities, but don't tell Orlan that.

"We had so much fun," she said. "We were helping make the bathroom nicer, but the best part was that I had time to bond with people that I didn't know that well."

Morgan Micahelson-Kelly, 12, of Skokie will always remember hugging people in the cafeteria as part of her group's CHIne On activities. What she and others took away from the program, she said, are invaluable lessons in caring for other people.

"I really think I learned how to help people better because of (the program)," she said.

Ricky Brandt, 17, and David Stookal, 16, both of Buffalo Grove and both counselors in training, helped make the "LOVE" sculpture that so many campers found "awesome." They spent eight weeks putting the sculpture together using 2,500 cans.

Traditions taught

David Kohn, 18, of Skokie spent his first summer this year as a counselor at Camp Chi after having been a camper for years.

He has loved Camp Chi every year he has been there, he said, but for different reasons as he has become older.

"When we get older, I think we value the traditions more," he said. "It's no longer just about the activities and other things."

ll of the campers -- older and younger kids, boys and girls -- appear to cherish their time every summer at Camp Chi. In the summer of 2008, they loved meeting with friends -- some of them from as far away as Minnesota and others who came from Israel. Their faces light up when they talk about having played sports at night on a lighted field for the first time or embarking on a new program calling for exercise and good nutrition or performing their own version of "American Idle."

Lake said that Camp Chi is always trying to offer new programs each summer to keep the experiences for campers fresh. This year, the experience of focusing on being good and decent to people with whom campers shared their summer home provided them with an extra-special summer.

But it won't be just one summer...

"CHIne On will be back again," Lake promised. "It will become a new tradition."