Camp Stone: 1969-2019

Camp Stone: 1969-2019

When discussions first began about Camp Stone’s 50th Anniversary, we asked the question – what do we want to accomplish in celebrating such an amazing milestone? Unequivocally, there were two answers: (1) generating warm, positive, wonderful feelings about camp – as individuals across the world reconnect with the institution they love, and (2) drastically increasing our network of committed alumni.

With those goals in mind – we held 4 events over the course of this past year:

It began in December 2018 with our Chanukkah Campaign, where our Tzevet, working the phones in New York and Israel, for 36 hours, and in partnership with matching funds from the Weiss family, helped us raise $400,000 from over 550 donors! The success of that fundraising campaign was the result of hard work by our Tzevet and tremendous dedication and commitment by our alumni and parent network. It was only because of the generosity of our parents, Tzevet and alumni that we reached our goal. We hope to reach even greater heights in the coming years. Stay tuned for our campaign this winter to raise funds for our new swimming pool, Im Yirtzah Hashem!

We then had a winter event called “50 at 50” – a shabbat where 50 families from all over the world hosted people in their homes to reminisce and share old camp memories. The proceeds from those dinners all went to the Camp Stone Scholarship Fund.

Next was Labor Day when we hosted an event in Cleveland, Ohio, honoring Morry & Judy Weiss for 50 years of love and dedication to Camp Stone, complete with a bar-b-que, Camp Stone paper goods, the sale of Stonewear, Machane Trivia, a Machsan concert, and over 400 people in attendance! It was a beautiful tribute to the legacy of Irving Stone.

And our last celebration was held in Israel at Eretz Ayalim in Gush Etzion on Chol Hamoed Sukkot. What a zechut to celebrate Camp Stone’s 50th in Israel, where so many of our alumni – campers, parents, and staff members – have made aliyah and now call Israel their home. It’s hard to believe that 750 people attended – our largest event to date!

Now that our year of festivities has come to a close, we can proudly say that our goals were achieved, and we are excited to see where the next 50 years take us.