February 24, 2000

Spending the summer at a sleep away camp represents one small step toward independence for most children, and a giant leap for children with developmental disabilities.

This summer, for the first time ever, the National Jewish Council for the Disabled's (NJCD) Yachad division will give children with disabilities - ages 10-17 - the opportunity to spend six weeks at Camp Morasha, in Lake Como, PA. There, specially trained counselors will head bunks of campers with disabilities who will spend their days swimming, hiking, learning and playing b’yachad (together) with their non-disabled peers.

Called the M.Y. Program (for Morasha Yachad), the camping experience is designed for children with mild to moderate disabilities and aims to foster inclusion in a supportive environment. "This new M.Y. program will afford a group of special young people the same opportunity their non-handicapped peers take for granted – an opportunity they richly deserve," said Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, National Director of the NJCD. "Perhaps even more important, it will afford the Morasha Camp community an unparalleled experience to learn and grow – an experience we hope every camper and counselor will take back home. I applaud Morasha’s initiative and look forward to replicating this program in all sleep away camps."

The program will run from July 4th - August 13th. To help ease the transition for children who are not quite ready to be away from home for that length of time, a shorter three-week option - ending on July 25th - is also available.

Last summer, 12 Yachad members attended a successful one-week pilot of the M.Y. program. "I had fun. It was great!," wrote Yachad member Matthew Ziegler in a thank you letter to Dr. Lichtman. "It was good for all the campers. It was their first time meeting Yachad [members] in the camp."

The response from Morasha campers and staff was equally as enthusiastic. "When the Yachad members achieve, we feel like we have achieved...They are the true heroes," said one camper. "I hope the Yachad kids have benefited from me at least half as much I have benefited from them," declared another.

In addition to the M.Y. program, Yachad also offers two other summer opportunities: Participants in the Yad B’Yad Yachad Israel Experience (ages 18-35) will travel to Israel for an exciting month of hiking, touring and working on a kibbutz with a group of non-disabled high school students who undergo extensive leadership training. And, on the East Coast/Canada Experience, developmentally disabled adults in two groups (ages 18-30 and 30-50) will explore Niagara Falls, go whale watching and visit with members of Yachad chapters in Toronto and Montreal.

For more information on any of these summer programs, please call the NJCD at 212.613.8369.

With more than 35 chapters throughout the United States and Canada, the NJCD, an agency of the Orthodox Union, is the only national resource center providing specialized guidance and information as well as direct services to those in the Jewish community who have special needs. Yachad, a division of the NJCD, provides a wide range of social, recreational and religious programs, serving well over 1500 children and adults with developmental disabilities.

The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of America and beyond, is the world leader in youth work, advocacy for the disabled, synagogue services, adult education and political action. Its kosher supervision label, the OU, is the world's most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on nearly 250,000 products in 68 countries around the globe.

###

www.ou.org

Comments? Requests? Questions?

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Department of Public Relations Sharyn Perlman, Director Main Office: 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 Phone: 212-613-8321 Fax: 212-564-9058 E-mail: media@ou.org

OUPR Archives Recent statements to the press Articles and statements from 1999 Articles and statements from 1998