About Us

Camp USA is a non-profit organization established in 2005 dedicated to creating mifgash (encounter, meeting, shared time) opportunities between Jewish youth from Israel and the Diaspora in the informal–educational setting of overnight summer camp

Through significant programming, Camp USA addresses the vital issue of Jewish Peoplehood by building a connection between Israeli youth and their Jewish peers in North America. In the shared time at camp, friendships emerge, stereotypes are dissolved, and a sense of closeness is created. Through intense mutual experiences, the notion that "we are one" forms in the participants' minds and hearts and the seeds for a connection between Israel and the Global Jewish community, based on personal relationships, are planted

Camp USA provides a personal approach for camps to successfully bring "Israel to Camp" by providing their campers with an opportunity to make an Israeli friend that will offer a window into Israeli life, while the Israeli participants gain a connection to a Jewish community outside of Israel

From our years of experience, we have seen that the shared camp experience leads to the development of meaningful friendships and a mutual sense of interest between the American and Israeli participants, which have led to creating understanding and a sense of closeness between North American Jewish teens and their Israeli peers. We have been witness to counter visits of the American teens in Israel to spend more time with their friends, Israeli families becoming friends with North American families as a result of their children's connection, and a real bond forming between communities

Funding for the program comes from the camps, that subsidize the Israelis' participation in a significant way, the families of the Israeli campers, and in the past we have received additional funding from: the UJA-Federation of New York, the Joseph and ebecca Meyerhoff Awards Committee, Louis D. and Morton J. Macks Family Foundation, Inc., the Grinspoon Foundation,and personal gifts from families who wanted to make a significant difference in a child's life

Feel free to contact us at 972-8-9714536