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Friday April 14, 2006

Mom helps bring camp experience to disabled

by rachel sarah
correspondent

Every summer for the past two decades, Sherry Rubin has watched families send their children away to overnight camps like Tawonga and Swig.

As the mother of a daughter with cerebral palsy, overnight camp was never an option for her.

Rubin, who lives in Windsor, says that like many children with disabilities, her daughter was “left out” of the overnight camp experience. “It just was not an option. These kids missed out on being with other Jewish kids, and experiencing what it was like. My son got to do it, but my daughter didn’t.”

But four years ago, Rubin helped change all that.

As a volunteer working closely with the Bureau of Jewish Education in San Francisco, Rubin helped launched the BJE’s first camp weekend for children with disabilities and their families in May 2002.

This spring, over 30 families — with children ages 18 months to 21 years — will come for the Shabbat weekend May 26 to 28 at Camp Newman in Santa Rosa.

“For most of these kids, this weekend is the only camp experience they will have, as they are unable to attend regular camp because of their disabilities,” Rubin says.

As a preteen, Natalie Rubin, now 26 and a pharmacy technician, was a student in S.F. Congregation Emanu-El’s first-ever special education class. Her teacher was Flora Kupferman, special education consultant at the BJE, who conceived the idea for a Shabbat weekend for Jewish children with disabilities.

Rubin jumped right on board. “When I heard Flora was involved, I knew that we had to go,” she says. “Anything she touches is gold.”

Rubin describes herself as “a layperson” at the Shabbat weekends, but Kupferman says she is so much more.

“Sherry has been my right and left hands in putting the camp together,” Kupferman says. “She’s instrumental in making the program successful.”

Rubin helps hire staff, including counselors, interns, medical help and lifeguards. She also “roams camp the whole weekend … to see what’s working and what’s not working.”

One of the highlights for Rubin is when the entire camp gathers for Shabbat dinner.

For many children, she says, this is the first time they get to experience Shabbat in their own way, meaning “there is no shushing during the services, and children are very involved. … That doesn’t happen in their synagogues.”

After the services, parents put their children to bed and counselors stay in the cabins, while parents get together “to talk about feelings, life, fears and progress.”

One night, the arts and crafts room is open for parents after-hours. “You walk in there and the parents are sitting around the table, doing arts and crafts and having intimate discussions,” Rubin says.

“These parents bond and become friends. We now see each other every year.”

And for the children, the experience is often like nothing they’ve had before.

One year, Rubin spent time with a camper who was nonverbal, only able to communicate with others by pulling their hair or trying to choke them. Rubin had the idea to play Ping-Pong with him.

“I spent the whole day with him doing things that he couldn’t do on his own, and things others would not have thought to try with him,” Rubin says.

For parents, she adds, knowing that their children are having positive experiences at the camp is what keeps them coming back.

This year, families are in for a treat. As always, there will be new friends to be made and singing around the campfire. But this May, there’s also Israeli dancing and yoga.

At last, Natalie Rubin has her chance to attend overnight camp. Every spring she comes to the BJE weekend as a volunteer.

“My daughter possesses insistence, perspective, confidence and drive that allows her to achieve in the adult world, which alleviates my fears,” Rubin says. “So my goal in staffing the camp is to integrate young adults with disabilities into the staff so the campers and parents can see success and feel hope for the future.”

The BJE’s Shabbat weekend for children with disabilities and their families will be held May 26-28 at Camp Newman in Santa Rosa. A similar weekend will be held Sept. 8-10 at Camp Tawonga. Information: (415) 751-6983 ext. 122.

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