Over the past few months, CGI Poconos has been focusing on three things: growing, growing and growing. After a successful summer with over 120 campers from around the world, CGI Poconos hired a new Director of Staffing & Programming, launched a new Camper Engagement office in Crown Heights, and opened registration for their second annual winter camp.
“We are excited about the growth pattern of CGI Poconos and we are proud of all the staff involved in making it a reality,” said Rabbi Moshe Browd, Director of Growth & Operations. “The directors of camper engagement as well as the new director of programming for the summer, have been working tirelessly to keep the inspiration and warmth towards Yiddishkeit alive within the campers, while finding new and exciting ways to do so.”
Throughout the past month alone, campers of CGI Poconos took part in many fun initiatives like a camper-of-the-week profile, Shema challenges, newsletters, weekly Shabbos candle campaigns, as well as two in-person reunions, one in the Tri-state area and one in South Florida.
The Tri-state area reunion was held on Sunday, November 6th at the home of a camper in Mahwah, NJ. Campers and staff from NY and NJ were excited to meet fellow camp friends in song and dance. “The campers, many of whom are still in touch with each other, were so excited to get together,” said Sara Levertov, one of the organizers. “They were able to inspire each other to keep the flame of Jewish pride within themselves alive.”
This past Sunday, November 20th, a reunion was held in South Florida at the Chabad Israeli Center of Boca Raton, with local campers and staff joining together for fun games, dancing and inspiration.
“Many of the campers attend public school throughout the year, giving the reunion an important goal of inspiring the campers to stay strong,” said Gershon Sandler, Founder of CGI Poconos. “That is also the reason why we established the winter camp, giving the girls an opportunity to experience camp more often.”
Before the reunion, the staff spent a week in south Florida visiting Chabad houses to make presentations and share information about the camp. They visited Hebrew schools, bat mitzvah clubs, day schools, charter schools, and after-school programs graciously hosted by the respective Shluchim, seeking to share the overnight camp experience with their community.
Although summer camp may seem many months away, many families are already deciding which camp they will attend, making it of utmost importance that they have the information for a Gan Israel option. In addition, CGI Poconos is hosting its second annual winter camp, the only overnight winter camp of its kind, in just a few weeks.
To find out more about CGI Poconos and the Winter Camp please visit https://cgipoconos.org/.
Wowww! Amazing work! This camp really gives so much to their campers <3
It’s awesome to see this camp taking it to the next level and continuing to pioneer initiatives like a 10-day overnight Winter Camp. ⛷️ ⛸️ ❄️ ⛄️ 💥