Jewish Philanthropist's Donations Make for Happy Campers

(Dec. 8) -- Camp Livingston offers typical summer camp fare: archery, arts and crafts, horseback riding, canoeing. Campers sleep in cabins, swim in a lake, and eat in a dining hall.

The camp, located in the wooded hills of southeastern Indiana, also offers Israeli dance, Israeli dodge ball (AKA Gaga), and Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutoring. Food is prepared in a kosher kitchen.

Livingston is Jewish camp, one of approximately 150 in North America to offer summer camp in a Jewish environment, in which Israeli culture often is explored and Shabbat is celebrated each week.

The enrollment at Jewish camps has swelled during the second half of this decade, thanks in large part to the hard cash and hard work of philanthropist Harold Grinspoon.

The Massachusetts real estate magnate's Grinspoon Institute for Jewish Philanthropy has committed nearly $18 million in matching grants and consulting services over the last five years to help 75 Jewish camps raise money, improve facilities, and grow attendance.

At those camps, attendance has swelled from 43,000 in 2004 to 70,000 this year. Those camps have raised $50 million in addition to the monies donated by Grinspoon.

Grinspoon endured anti-Semitic slurs growing up in one of two Jewish families in his neighborhood in the 1930s and '40s. Dyslexic, the young Grinspoon struggled at school as well. After several years at a small college in Vermont, Grinspoon dropped out and found his place in the world: as an entrepreneur, first managing a fleet of ice cream trucks and finally achieving fortune in real estate.

A very successful lifetime later, the one-time ice cream peddler is spending a hearty sum to provide Jewish children a summertime sense of community and, he hopes, pride in their heritage.

"I believe building Jewish camaraderie over the summer months is incredible for Jewish kids," Grinspoon told AOL News. "Gathering children around the campfire builds self-confidence, a love of Judaism and is fun!"

Grinspoon's hard-working parents couldn't afford to send him to camp, Jewish or otherwise, but Grinspoon sent his children. They loved it. "They had a great time. It instilled a sense of Jewish pride in them. My two sons are still involved in the camp they went to," Grinspoon said.

Much of his efforts on the camp front have been spent eliciting similar involvement from other past campers, involvement in the form of financial contributions. The Institute has helped camps step-up their fundraising efforts through creation of dedicated development departments and legacy programs, leading to the impressive $50 million success.

Grinspoon's commitment to fostering community and pride in Jewish youth extends beyond his considerable dedication to Jewish camps.

The Harold Grinspoon Foundation runs the PJ Library, which gives Jewish books and music to Jewish children in North America and Israel; gives grant monies to Jewish educators and organizations; and sponsors a number of cultural and entrepreneurial efforts, including the Pioneer Valley (Mass.) Jewish Film Festival and the Elevator Pitch competition, wherein entrepreneurial college students deliver 90-second business pitches to bankers.

While his philanthropic lens captures a wide expanse, Grinspoon sees his efforts as united through the Jewish faith. He hopes his commitment to young Jewish campers now will turn into a lifetime of commitment on the part of the campers.

"Camping is an essential place to build a stronger Jewish future beginning with our young people," he said.