SaveCRS
SaveCRS | |
| Formation | December 2016 |
|---|---|
| 81-2137880 | |
| Location | |
| J.C. Calderon, Andrew Clateman, Robert J. Sarlls, Tonya Buckler, Sze-Ling Chan, Stephen Bang, Johnny Reinhard | |
| Website | www |
Alumni and Friends of Camp Rising Sun, Inc. “AFCRS” or “SaveCRS”' is a privately funded, non-profit charity 501(c)(3) based in Beacon, New York.[1]
Mission Statement[edit]
SaveCRS’s official mission statement is:
The mission of the Alumni & Friends of Camp Rising Sun, Inc. organization (also known as “SaveCRS”) is to help ensure the survival of the traditional Camp Rising Sun eight week long summer program for teenage boys and girls at their respective traditional campsites through the meaningful engagement of alumni and supporters. We believe that this goal can only be accomplished through full transparency, fiduciary prudence, and formal recognition of all alumni as full stakeholders in the Louis August Jonas Foundation, Inc. LAJF is the legal body that was entrusted to preserve the vision of the founder, George E. Jonas, who bequeathed the assets that make the camp program possible today. SaveCRS is committed to the preservation of a program that is provided free of charge to campers who, as stated by Mr. Jonas, “have limited or no financial means.” We call for the restoration of the program’s original objectives, as explicitly expressed by Mr. Jonas in his own words and deeds.
History[edit]
Camp Rising Sun is an international, full-scholarship, leadership summer program for students aged 14–16 by the Louis August Jonas Foundation ("LAJF"), a non-profit organization. It operated a seven-week program from a boys facility in Red Hook, New York, and a separate girls facility in Clinton, New York, about 90 miles (140 km) north of New York City in the Hudson River Valley.
The efforts of SaveCRS began in the Fall of 2014 when LAJF, founded by George E. “Freddie” Jonas in 1930 to operate Camp Rising Sun, announced its decision to sell its two heritage campsites and move operations out of New York to a yet to be determined location. [2] [3] This announcement by the unelected Board of LAJF came after what some considered to be insufficient time and consultation with the Camp Rising Sun alumni community, who number at least four to five thousand former campers.
In response,[4] over 400 alumni signed a Petition to ask the LAJF Board to reconsider the sale (accompanied by the promise of signatories to collectively withhold over $384,000 in donations).[5]. Subsequently, LAJF announced that it would suspend the sale of the Camp properties for six months. [6]
During this time, nearly 500 Camp Rising Sun alumni also signed a Declaration to Preserve the Mission of Camp Rising Sun. [7] This declaration sought changes in governance (which would allow alumni to elect LAJF Board members), the restoration of the Red Hook campus, increased fiscal restraint, and improved transparency.
In the Summer of 2015, after the LAJF Board agreed to reopen the Red Hook campus with a meaningful show of support from alumni, SaveCRS supported their major capital raising campaign to make repairs at the Red Hook campus. In just under two months over $550,000 was raised, the most ever for LAJF in such a short period of time. Unfortunately, LAJF announced soon afterwards that even with those donations major repairs needed to the Red Hook sewer system would prevent such a reopening. [8]
Hollywood director Darren Aronofsky was interviewed by Albany-based WAMC AM in the Summer of 2015 as part of his support for the efforts to raise awareness and funds to restore the CRS program at Red Hook. [9]
LAJF has not operated a camp at Red Hook since 2014, and has been operating successive four-week long programs for girls and then boys at the Clinton Corners campus. [10]
SaveCRS Board and Advisory Board[edit]
SaveCRS's Board of Directors consists of male and female alumni from both camps (one of whom is a former LAJF Board member) as well as former CRS staff.
The organization's Advisory Board includes such alumni as writer and producer Eli Attie and friends of SaveCRS such as Tinya Seeger, the daughter of Pete Seeger, and local community leaders in Red Hook and Rhinebeck.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Charity Navigator – Alumni and Friends of Camp Rising Sun, Inc". Retrieved 2017-12-24.
- ↑ Camp Rising Sun to Set? Hudson Valley News, October 22, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2017
- ↑ My View From Tent Hill: The Future of CRS and a New Dawn for Rising Sun Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ↑ Board votes to leave Red Hook after 85 years Hudson Valley News, November 5, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ↑ Petition to LAJF to Reconsider Sale of Historic CRS Campgrounds, Curb Spending and Preserve Core Mission First Retrieved December 24, 2017
- ↑ My View From Tent Hill: New Action Plan for Rising Sun Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ↑ SaveCRS Declaration Retrieved December 24, 2017
- ↑ Shaped by Camp, Alumni Fight to Prevent Its Move New York Times, September 6, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2017
- ↑ Director Darren Aronofsky Among Group Hoping To Save Summer Camp WAMC.org, September 20, 2015. Accessed December 28, 2017
- ↑ Camp Rising Sun alumni gather to celebrate 85 years Poughkeepsie Journal, September 20, 2015. Accessed December 28, 2017
External links[edit]
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