When our youngest son was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, as you can imagine, it impacted our entire family. Because we were directed to keep our younger son away from other kids… it was very isolating. I knew I needed to find my older son a social outlet for the summer. I began looking around at Jewish camps, but we couldn’t really afford anything under the circumstances. 

I decided to call the Jewish Federation. I was lucky to be connected to the then Director of Camp Gan Shalom, Jason Moss. I took a breath and told him our situation. It wasn’t easy. I had never had to ask for help before. He was so encouraging and supportive and right away offered to help us give our older child a chance to be a kid in a space without sickness. He loved that summer camp, and I loved that he didn’t have to worry about his 
brother for a few hours a day.  I will always be grateful for the gift of camp from the Jewish Federation for my son that summer.