How St. Louisans are sending 18 war-weary Israeli kids to camp

ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Published June 9, 2024

Thanks to the generosity of the St. Louis Jewish Community and others, 18 Israeli children, ranging in age from 10 to 17, will be spending a month this summer at Camp Ben Frankel, a Jewish sleepaway camp located in Makanda, Ill., about two hours south of St. Louis. All of these youngsters were either displaced from their homes due to the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7 or live on the Lebanon border.

“We’ve been in close contact and the kids and their families are very, very excited to come to camp this summer,” said Aaron Hadley, director of Camp Ben Frankel, noting that the campers will spend from June 23 to July 19 at camp.

“When they fly into Chicago, their flights are a few days before camp and they are being hosted by several of our wonderful camp families and alumni,” Hadley continued. “Mostly what we want to do is fill them with feelings of safely, being welcomed and finding happiness and joy through fun camp activities and new relationships and friends.”

On May 19, the Jewish Light reported that Camp Ben Frankel had launched an emergency fundraising campaign to try to bring up to 17 Israeli children affected by the events of Oct. 7 to the camp this summer. The goal was to raise more than $110,000 to help these children attend camp.

“The promotion helped us garner more supporters and was crucial,” said Hadley. “We nearly hit our $110,000 fundraising goal and I’m in conversation with some potential donors who are likely to close the gap as we have already raised $100,000.”

Hadley explained that in late April, he was contacted by an Israeli mom desperate to find a way for her daughters to escape the daily terrors of living on the Lebanon border. She could only afford the cost of airfare to get her girls to an American Jewish camp.

After not being able to find an existing program to help the mother, the camp decided to try to do something. Through its alumni network in Israel, Hadley heard from many more families wanting to get their children to an American summer camp where they could make fun memories. That’s when the camp decided to launch a fundraising campaign to help. Hadley calculated the camp could accommodate one child for every $6,520 raised.

The Israeli campers won’t be the only ones from the Jewish state. Hadley said Camp Ben Frankel has six Israeli staff members this summer, and they have been meeting virtually to help them get to know each other – and the camp – better before it officially begins.

“We have Hebrew speakers on our leadership team to help speak with the parents,” Hadley said. “We screened the Israeli campers to ensure that they had sufficient English-speaking skills, experience being away from home without their parents and a willingness to potentially be the only Israeli in a camp cabin full of American kids.”

About the Contributor

ELLEN FUTTERMAN, Editor-in-Chief

A native of Westbury, New York, Ellen Futterman broke into the world of big city journalism as a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner in the latter part of the 20th century. Deciding that Tinsel Town was not exciting enough for her, she moved on to that hub of glamour and sophistication, Belleville, Ill., where she became a feature writer, columnist and food editor for the Belleville News-Democrat. A year later the St. Louis Post-Dispatch scooped her up, neither guessing at the full range of her talents, nor the extent of her shoe collection. She went on to work at the Post-Dispatch for 25 years, during which time she covered hard news, education, features, investigative projects, profiles, sports, entertainment, fashion, interiors, business, travel and movies. She won numerous major local and national awards for her reporting on "Women Who Kill" and on a four-part series about teen-age pregnancy, 'Children Having Children.'" Among her many jobs at the newspaper, Ellen was a columnist for three years, Arts and Entertainment Editor, Critic-at-large and Daily Features (Everyday) Editor. She invented two sections from scratch, one of which recently morphed from Get Out, begun in 1995, to GO. In January of 2009, Ellen joined the St. Louis Jewish Light as its editor, where she is responsible for overseeing editorial operations, including managing both staff members and freelancers. Under her tutelage, the Light has won 16 Rockower Awards — considered the Jewish Pulitzer’s — including two personally for Excellence in Commentary for her weekly News & Schmooze column. She also is the communications content editor for the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis. Ellen and her husband, Jeff Burkett, a middle school principal, live in Olivette and have three children. Ellen can be reached at 314-743-3669 or at [email protected].