In February, as he was working on plans to reopen camp for the 2024 season, Kimama Group CEO Avishay Nachon received a call asking for help to bring back hope.
It was from a staffer at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an organization working since Oct. 7 to bring home the hostages held by Hamas—and support the families of those in captivity.
She asked Nachon if come summer, Kimama—an Israeli company that operates camps across North America, Europe, and Israel—would be able to host children and teens from Israeli hostage families at one of its sites.
“I immediately said yes,” recalls Nachon. “Then I told my team, ‘Let’s figure out what needs to be done and let’s make it happen.’”
Related
Over two three-week sessions, a total of 33 children and teens—all of whom had a parent, sibling, or other family member taken hostage—swapped the upheaval of the war for camp activities and a warm, nurturing environment to help them heal.
“We knew this was going to be a big, big challenge to help these kids after all the trauma they’ve had,” says Alon Parnas, COO of North America Kimama Group and partner at Camp Halfmoon. “The amazing thing is that everyone at camp knew it was going to be very hard, and yet everyone was 100% on board with the idea. It was the least we could do.”
“It changed everything”
Through its newly-created “Summer of Hope” program, Kimama Halfmoon invited the hostage family children and teens (between the ages of 9 and 18) to each attend a session of overnight camp. There, they met each other and lived with other Israeli and American campers in bunks, participating in activities such as archery, arts and crafts, boating, sports, dancing, swimming, hiking, and Maccabiah (color war games).
Kimama’s generosity was supplemented with a $129,000 grant from CJP’s Israel Emergency Fund (IEF)—made to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum—which helped cover the cost of 30 campers’ flights from Israel and insurance, as well as additional staff to support them at Halfmoon.
“Without CJP, we couldn’t have done this,” says Parnas, noting that CJP was the program’s sole philanthropic funder. “I’m so grateful to the donors who helped make this happen. For the kids, it changed everything.”
“Without CJP, we couldn’t have done this,” says Parnas, noting that CJP was the program’s sole philanthropic funder. “I’m so grateful to the donors who helped make this happen. For the kids, it changed everything.”
For CJP, it’s been important to make a tangible impact for families directly affected by the brutality of Oct. 7, says Sarah Abramson, Ph.D., the organization’s executive vice president of strategy and impact.
“This grant is a shining example of how our Boston community has not forgotten about the plight of the hostages, or the suffering that their families continue to feel,” Abramson says. “We wanted to bring some joy to these families and let them know that we stand with them, that we embrace them, and that we believe their children deserve a small taste of normalcy.”
For Halfmoon camp director Yael Skikne, CJP’s gift extended beyond the campers and their families to the staff.
“Knowing that we were part of giving back to these kids fills my heart,” she says. “It was a gift. We all truly appreciated being part of this project. Giving these campers a break changed their year, and changed their lives.”
Just being kids again
Members of the Kimama leadership team spent their own young adult summers traveling from Israel to the United States to work as counselors at Jewish overnight camps. They named their company after the word for “butterfly” in the Shoshone Native American dialect, to represent freedom, creation, and development.
This year, the symbolism was especially poignant for the hostage family campers. While at Halfmoon, they didn’t have access to their phones or to the news, and weren’t expected to speak formally to others about the war in Israel. Instead, Skikne says, they focused on “just being kids again.”
“Halfmoon was such a good place for them,” she says. “We created a bubble where they could go back to where they were a year ago, without any worries.”
At first, Skikne says, it was difficult for the campers to balance having fun while knowing what their family members were going through back in Israel.
Some were triggered by the sounds of the Fourth of July fireworks. Others struggled as Shabbat arrived on Fridays, a time they traditionally went to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to share photos of their loved ones in captivity.
To help them process their feelings, Halfmoon offered opportunities for campers to speak informally with others about the hostages and gave them a dedicated area to use as a “safe space” when they needed to cry or share other emotions. There were also two psychologists on staff at camp to help.
As the days went on, the campers became more relaxed, and more open to engaging in activities and to making friends. Some even saw physical symptoms of stress resolve. One camper arrived from Israel with an ankle issue. A few weeks later, Skikne says, “she was practically running.”
“It was like magic happened”
Before the close of the first session, Cindy Geva, head of camper and staff care at Halfmoon, watched the “Summer of Hope” campers sing and dance in the final Maccabiah performance with gusto.
“It was amazing to see these kids, coming here to camp closed in a cocoon and slowly opening up, turning into butterflies themselves,” she says. “It was like magic happened.”
Now that they’ve returned to Israel, the kids and teens are still holding onto that magic.
“I came back with new energy,” says one camper. “Having fun at Halfmoon enabled me to understand that I can have fun at home as well.”
A fellow camper adds, “At Halfmoon, I met other kids from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum who I never knew before—and we still keep in touch. I went across the world to find friends at home.”
Their parents agree.
“My child came home with new friends, feeling more connected and better able to handle the situation at home,” says one. Another says, “My child had not gone out with friends since Oct. 7. Since returning home, she is going out and joining some social activities, which she hasn’t done for nine months.”
Giving back
Moving forward, Nachon says the “Summer of Hope” project will become a permanent initiative of the Kimama Group. He and his team plan to expand the project and host more campers in need, beyond just those impacted by the Israel-Hamas war.
“‘Summer of Hope’ is here to stay,” he says. “We go to work, and we enjoy our work—it’s a summer camp. But as an organization, we want to be meaningful. We want to make it bigger, to help more kids. This has opened our minds to a whole new world of giving back.”
Support CJP so we can continue meeting the needs of the Jewish community in Greater Boston and abroad.
