As temperatures soared in New York during the recent summer heat wave, the staff of the Jewish Girls Retreat in Troy, N.Y., took action to ensure the safety of their preteen and teenaged campers, finding kindness and compassion at the neighboring Italian Community Center.
On the campus of Sage College near Albany, fans are usually sufficient to keep the campers cool and comfortable. But this summer the heat has been especially brutal throughout the country and in upstate New York. On Friday last week, the temperatures were particularly searing.
With 90 girls in third through 10th grade, as well as 30 staff members needing to escape the scorching heat, camp directors Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Avraham and Nechama Laber quickly began checking out alternate venues.
They searched unsuccessfully for other spaces on campus, and then temporarily booked 33 rooms at a local hotel as a back-up plan as they continued pounding the pavement looking for a place to take the girls. As the Sabbath approached, calls were made to other local colleges and even the mayor’s office, but with no results.
On a whim, the rabbi went into the neighboring Italian Community Center, in walking distance to the camp. He talked to the receptionist who called the community center’s president, Jim Margo.
“We were in a very tight spot. We were very desperate,” said Laber. “It was like a long shot, even to have a place to walk to and spend a few hours there.”
At 10 a.m., the camp got word that they had found a place to go and plans went into motion.
“Once we set the plan in motion, it ran like a military operation,” Laber detailed.
Margo happily agreed to allow the camp to use the community center’s space, and helped make the arrangements with executive director Lori Kelley. The 18,000-square-foot community center is a certified American Red Cross shelter and can provide emergency services, said Kelley.
“We’re trying to expand and welcome people in and meet people’s needs,” explained Kelley. “They needed what we had to provide.”
“Obviously young girls like that needed help and that’s what we’re here for,” said Margo. “It was our very first time ever doing anything like that. It needed a quick decision in that kind of weather.”
Margo came right over and gave the rabbi a tour of the building, including its large all-purpose room, several smaller rooms, and a commercial kitchen – all with air conditioning.
“These people were so kind. They just took us in and said use whatever you want,” recalled the rabbi. “The whole attitude was just unbelievable.”
Laber offered to pay for someone to come and help clean, but “they didn’t want to accept anything,” he said.
Counselors and other staffers packed up what they needed for the Sabbath and transported the sweaty campers to their new location. Camp administrator Mushka Ciment was in awe of how they pulled together and made it all work.
“Everything had to be brought over,” said Ceient. “It was pretty amazing how we did it.”
Staff and campers delegated such tasks as coordinating the food, arranging games, and planning transportation. Staff member Rabbi Yossi Schulman was able to kosher the community center’s kitchen counters so that the campers could enjoy their Sabbath meals.
On Saturday morning some of the center’s members arrived for a scheduled aerobics class, but when they learned why the girls were there, they were proud to be part of a center that helps children in a time of need.
“The girls are much more important than the Zumba class,” commented Margo.
“It was total Divine providence that we ended up at the community center,” said camp nurse Ellen Zagorsky Goldberg, who was helping the girls stay hydrated. “We ended up where we needed to be. As a nurse it was so nice to see how the girls perked up once we were in an air conditioned place. It’s a very special camp.”
After the Sabbath, the heat subsided somewhat and the camp returned to its location at the college campus. The camp is currently seeking funds and support to eventually purchase its own campgrounds.
“What a nice bunch of young people,” boasted Margo. “Ordinarily younger children would be running around and yelling. It was nice to see how they conducted themselves. They were very respectful and took very good care of the property. It was truly a pleasure to have them here.”
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