Safety & Security

December 8, 2020

In planning for the 2021 summer, we want to share with you our philosophy and approach to opening safely.  There are two primary goals that we are working towards simultaneously:

1)   Ensuring the health, safety and security of our campers, staff and community, and
2)   Providing a genuine Camp Mountain Chai experience, including:

• Celebrating Shabbat
• Making new friends and rekindling friendships
• Being outdoors and disconnecting from technology
• Building confidence and becoming more independent
• Continuing to make camp affordable by offering financial assistance and scholarships

We know next summer will look a little different and we know the way we do some things may change, but our core mission remains: return each camper home a better version of themselves.

Our guiding principle in keeping our camp community healthy and safe is to follow the science. While none of us know exactly what the next few months will look like, we continue to regularly consult with medical professionals, infectious disease and industry experts, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Camp Association.

We believe that testing and/or vaccinations will be critical to operations next summer, and we are closely monitoring their advancements.  While the availability and accuracy of rapid testing continues to improve and the vaccines seem promising, we are waiting for additional information before setting a policy.

We are proactively focusing on the following areas right now:

• Updating health center and screening procedures
• Securing additional PPE and medical equipment
• Making infrastructure improvements such as additional sanitation stations and sneeze guards
• Assessing modifications to food service and cleaning procedures
• Learning from schools and camps who have successfully and safely opened

Knowing that campers and staff have had a very different year, we are also working to provide support for their mental health.  We applied for and received the Yedid Nefesh grant through the Foundation for Jewish Camp which allows us to hire an additional social worker, enhance counselor and specialist training, and more.  We are also committed to hiring an additional employee dedicated to staff life and staff programming.

We will continue to be transparent in our on-going communications with you.  We look forward to seeing you way up the tall green mountain again soon.  Please continue to wear mask and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Buddy Voit, Executive Director
Dan Baer, Camp Director

October 9, 2020

Dear Camp Families,

The health, safety and security of all our campers and staff is the utmost important to us, and we are updating our procedures and protocols annually to keep abreast of current trends and concerns. For the first time, these changes and improvements will create a need for a supplemental fee.

In the spring of 2020, we began a project to enhance the overall physical security of our camp facility. This is not in response to any specific event, but rather recommended upgrades made in consultation with experts in the field. In addition to strengthening our relationship with local law enforcement and other first-responders, we have made many significant changes including these that your camper will see upon arrival at camp for the 2021 summer:

• Enhanced access control measures including security personnel, the addition of an entry gate, increased surveillance and updated technology throughout camp
• Upgraded our camp-wide public address system
• Equipment in camper cabins to allow for a secure space, if needed
• Increased security-related training for summer and year-round

Additionally, with coronavirus on everyone’s mind, we are preparing responsibly for the summer of 2021. While none of us know exactly what the next few months will look like, we continue to regularly consult with medical professionals, infectious disease and industry experts, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Camp Association (ACA).

Our protocols regarding COVID-19 involve:

• Updating health center and screening procedures
• Securing additional PPE, medications, and medical equipment
• Modified food service and enhanced cleaning procedures
• Reserving space at camp to allow for additional isolation facilities, if needed
• Closely monitoring advancements with testing and the availability of a vaccine (while we will likely have a policy that requires testing, a vaccine, or both, we will follow the science as it evolves over the next few months)

These changes and improvements, while partially funded through a California security grant, have created substantial costs and on-going expenses for us. We are instituting an annual supplemental fee of $135 per camper per year (regardless of the number of sessions a camper attends) to cover these additional costs. Even with the addition of this fee, the cost of our standard two-week sessions remains below 2019 levels when registering before year-end.

We are looking forward to getting back up the tall green mountain with your campers; please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

David Bark, Board President
Buddy Voit, Executive Director