PJ Library Goes to JCC Day Camp

Mike Steklof, JCC assistant camp director, is receiving 25 books from PJ Library, a program within the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, for the summer of 2015. More than 50 camps are receiving these books this summer for use by campers ages 4-8 to enhance Jewish literacy in JCC day camps. This partnership between the Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF) and JCC Association reinforces the importance of Jewish literacy at a young age through day camp programs.

Through this partnership, JCC Day Camps throughout North America will enhance their programs by using the PJ Library books, filled with stories of Jewish values and assorted holidays to infuse Jewish literacy all summer.

“We’re delighted that PJ Library and HGF are continuing to partner with us by adding the richness of PJ Library books to the resources that our day camp staff will have available to bring Jewish learning to life,” said Stephen Hazan Arnoff, president and CEO of JCC Association.

“JCC day camps are the entry point into Jewish life for over 65,000 children each summer. We believe by providing valuable tools to enhance summer learning and programs connect, we campers to a life of Jewish engagement,” said Shara Perlman, assistant director of camping and youth engagement at JCC Association. “There’s also incredible potential to reach the 12,000 young adults who work at JCC day camps each summer,” Perlman added, noting that for most day camp staff, working at camp is not only their first real job, but their first exposure to Jewish communal work.
“We are so excited to participate in this program for the second year in a row,” said Steklof. “It enhanced story time at camp last year, and I know that it will do the same this year.”

“We’re excited that PJ Library is providing another connection point between local PJ program directors and their JCC day camps,” said Beth Grafman, program officer at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. “These are two great resources for young families with opportunities for them to connect to the larger Jewish community all year long.”

PJ Library started as a small project sending books to 200 children in Massachusetts in 2005. Now it delivers more than 144,000 Jewish books per month to children throughout North America with more than 14 million PJ Library books have been delivered globally.

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