Grant gives Hands in 4 Youth new life

NEW YORK — Hands in 4 Youth, a non-profit organization which provides enriching summer camp experiences to young people, announced this week that it has received a $300,000 grant from the Schultz Family Foundation. The three-year grant will enable Hands in 4 Youth to offer more camp scholarships and will also support development of its Vacamas camp facilities.
The Hands in 4 Youth location in West Milford was not to reopen this summer. The group announced in September that financial issues would cause the facility to be closed and sold. This grant changed that.
Vacamas Camps offer healthy outdoor activities for underserved children with an emphasis on relationship building as well as exposure to nature often absent from the lives of many youths. Summer learning and enrichment programs offer structured, supervised time where children and adolescents build on what they’ve learned during the school year and develop new life and social skills.
“We’re delighted to support Hands in 4 Youth and the Vacamas camps," said Daniel Pitasky, executive director, Schultz Family Foundation. “Young people benefit greatly from the personal development and support offered through Vacamas programs. It provides them with valuable social experiences and helps them appreciate and apply what they’ve learned in school.”
Created by Howard Schultz, CEO and executive chairman of Starbucks Coffee Company, and his wife Sheri, the Schultz Family Foundation works to ensure that post-9/11 veterans and “opportunity youth” have equal access to opportunities that can help them succeed in life. In addition to hiring programs for 16- to 24-year-olds who are out of school and not working, the Schultz Family Foundation also supports mentoring and homelessness programs for young people.
“Our aim is to help children realize the power and value of the knowledge they have,” explained Karen Tarnow, president of Hands in 4 Youth Board of Directors. “We’re grateful for the support of the Schultz Family Foundation because it enables us to increase our reach and positively affect the lives of these children and, by extension, the lives of those in their community.”
Hands in 4 Youth added a full challenge course to its property in West Milford, a nearly 200-acre property on Macopin Road with a 38-acre lake and 70 structures. The facility has been providing a residential camp for kids since 1954.
"Parent requests to feature more STEM/STEAM programming has led us to strengthen that part of our camp offering," said Tarnow in a release. "We have engaged a science teacher/curriculum specialist who has won awards for STEM programs, to create customized activity plans for our summer camp. Additionally, we have a highly-trained tech engineer and her team adding 'cool' activities to the tech aspect of our STEAM curriculum."
Hands in 4 Youth will continue to offer its unique teen specialty programs: biking, canoeing and CBC (camping, biking, and canoeing) in which campers age 13-16 choose their area of focus. Campers, during the first part of their camp trip, are trained in the mechanics and safety of biking, canoeing and/or camping. Their Vacamas experience culminates in a 5-day excursion to use their new skills. Those in canoe spend five days on the Delaware River; those in biking cycle to Lancaster County, camping along the way, then visit the green dragon market before travelling back, and the CBC program follows the Appalachian Trail before meeting up on the Delaware and canoeing for two days.
"We are proud of the decades of success we have had with these teen camping programs, and love the feeling of accomplishment 'our' kids feel when they complete these life-altering experiences," said Tarnow.
Summer learning loss is an issue also mentioned by parents and caregivers. The camp program involves regularly scheduled time at the Literacy Center where campers engage in activities with volunteer public school teachers and also have access to borrow from the library of books for required reading time in their bunks. The camp is screen free, so kids disconnect from technology for the duration of their stay, enjoying fresh air, outdoor activities and learning to swim.
Hands in 4 Youth offers summer camp experiences for children age 7 to 16, and a Leader In Training program for those 15 to 16