1001 Reasons to be Grateful for Apachi
Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays, but it has nothing to do with the turkey and the stuffing. Actually my family’s tradition the past few years involves Lou Malnati’s pizza, one of the foods I am most thankful for. Each Thanksgiving before devouring the cheesy goodness of the pizza, my family and I share something we are most thankful for. In addition to my family, I am thankful for good health and 23 summers at Apachi JCamps. I am grateful that every summer I get to spend 44 days helping to shape the lives of Apachi campers and staff.
When I think of camp, I am thankful for hot sunny days and cooling off in the crisp water of the pool. It melts my heart on the first day to see the giant hugs that staff and campers give each other after many months apart. I am thankful for the goose bumps I get when I sing The Hope with campers and staff at Shabbat each week. I love the expressions on the faces of the parents at the camp talent show while they watch their own children on the stage. I am thankful for the excitement which starts to build the week before our Maccabi Games and continues throughout the competition when the winning teams are announced. I am thankful for the bittersweet tears on the last day when I see the emotional goodbyes after a life changing summer! It is all this and so much more that I am grateful for not only on Thanksgiving but all year long.
I recently reached out to our summer 2017 staff to hear what makes them most thankful about Apachi J Camp! We hope this list inspires you to think about who and what you are most thankful for this season. We look forward to this coming summer in which we will get to do it all over again.
Here is what our staff had to say when asked what they’re most thankful for about camp…
Apachi not only was my first official job (thanks Andrea and Michael for my first job watching Ethan and Charlie), but it was my day camp. It’s not a summer in my world without Apachi.
To all the kids who wait all year long for Apachi, that is the impact camp has. The tears at the end of a great summer, by those very kids who were so tough all summer, that is what camp is all about. It is a place to grow up. I grew up at camp. I went off the high dive. I never managed to stay over for an overnight (yet somehow my summers at day camp still taught me to eventually go away to overnight camp for many summers). I was one of the few girls in trail blazer sports. I was bus 26. I will cherish these summers forever and be eternally grateful to ACDC (and my one summer at the Heller) for all of the amazing summers that influenced who I am today.
The best part about working at camp is feeling like you are a part of something larger. First, Andrea and Marni create a family with the staff. I was lucky enough to go to camp and feel the love from my counselors and Andrea and Marni. I still remember Andrea bringing me a special snack on the days I couldn’t eat what the rest of the kids were eating. And now as a counselor, once the campers come, to see each small success is always so meaningful, whether it is supporting a camper go into the deep end or off the high dive for the first time or seeing the girl who hated music actually sing along during Shabbat.
-Elena Caminer
I am very thankful to have had the wonderful opportunity to work for Apachi J Camp because I have met wonderful people that I am happy to work with. I am thankful to have built wonderful friendships along the way. I am thankful for Apachi J Camp because is part of my family now. I am thankful to have had the marvelous opportunity to work with the 3-year-old age group that are the most wonderful Sunshines and make each single day super extra special in my life. I am very thankful to be able to interact and make the most wonderful impact to the best of my ability with each single individual in front of me. I am thankful to have all of you in my life. Thank you sooooooo much JCC!!! Happy Holidays!!! Love you!!
-Marisa Galarza
As an adult, I often find myself getting caught up in daily life and I forget to just remember to find the happiness in the little things. Working with the kids at the Apachi JCC camp has allowed me to remember to simply enjoy all the amazing things around me!
-Joy Gross
My relationship with Apachi is two-fold. Not only was I able to attend as a camper, but I found the experience even more rewarding as a counselor. As a camper, each day was a new adventure filled with laughter and smiles. As a counselor I am thankful for meeting incredible kids and having the unique experience of being their role model and leader throughout the camp day. I am thankful for all the held hands, piggyback rides, and carefully crafted land yards that still dangle off my backpack. I am thankful for the many treasured memories that I will hold dearly for forever.
-Sophie Leib-Neri
I am thankful for each Apachi camper who played my wild drama games, who pushed themselves to try each acting exercise, and who left camp more creative as well as more confident.
-Nevada
I am most thankful for being welcomed into the Apachi family with such open arms. This was my first summer at Apachi, so when I️ started I️ was a little nervous about fitting in with counselors and campers who had been there for a long time. However, I️ was received with open arms and open hearts by the whole camp, and Apachi has become like a family to me.
-Jack Siebert
With much change and many unknowns, Apachi has been one of the few constants in my life since the summer of 2009. It has been a true growing and impactful experience, something that I look forward to each year. Apachi has served as a happy place and safe place during times of uncertainty and after rough school years. Apachi is where, thanks to the CIT cohorts of 2004 and 2005, I learned that I loved working with kids and wanted to do so in the future. Apachi has helped me grow socially, emotionally and professionally. I have become more outgoing, have learned to be part of a larger team, and I’ve learned how to be flexible. Overall, I have a stronger sense of self and for that, I cannot be more thankful.
-Shana Silver
I’m thankful for JCC camp for all of the everlasting friendships I’ve made.
-Bea Treister
I am thankful for the welcoming and hard working staff! I am also thankful for all the parents who keep up with their children and staff with any concerns. Last but not least the kids, who are respectful, loving, and always willing to be a part of something!
-Cruz
I am thankful for my supportive admin that provides me with the resources we need to make science happen throughout the weeks. Beth always comes through with our science budget or her creativity. 😉 Thank you!
-Heath Davis
I am thankful for my campers and all the smiles, laughter and joy that they brought to my summer. I’m also thankful for the new friends that I met through Apachi!
-Hannah Katz
Thankful to have a staff that keeps returning with positive energy, commitment, and fun! Thankful to my team for always inspiring me to do better!
-Beth Miller
I am thankful for all the people that Apachi has connected me with. It allows me to learn as much from the kids as the counselors. I get to work alongside some of my best friends while making connections with some amazing children.
-Shivani Patel
Working at camp makes me thankful for the beautiful people and minds that will someday run our country. My campers are so accepting of each other and everyone around them. I can’t wait to see what they do with all of their love and energy in the future!
-Hannah Silver
I am thankful to work at my Chicago JCC due mostly to the inviting and understanding staff. All members in the camp work well together and share a common goal to have a safe yet fun summer. After a year of volunteering as a counselor, I then went on to be a counselor for a number of years. Every year is memorable and inspiring. I have learned so much from my campers and find each one amazingly unique. With great campers and caring staff I am thankful to be a part of this family.
-Doneal Bromberg
I am thankful for the opportunity to give to the JCC campers, to lead them, and to help put smiles on their faces. Most of all, I am thankful for the chance to be able to develop and grow alongside my campers!
-Rochel Gertsberg
I am thankful for the amazing creative campers that I teach. And I am thankful for Shuli and Wendy and all the counselors!
-Laura Steenveld
Summer camp at the JCC has always been the highlight of my year and being able to come back as a counselor was even more fun! I was able to watch the kids perform and enjoy their summer camp experience just as I did. I am thankful for this experience and can’t wait to do it again!
-Danielle Burstyn
I am thankful for all the hard work the directors and camp administration put into to making camp special for each child. I am thankful for all of the camp memories. I am thankful for the sense or comfort you feel everyday at camp.
-Jessica Mann
The thing that I am most thankful for about camp is the amazing people that I get to work with. The staff is absolutely outstanding and there’s no one in the world who could possibly be more supportive and caring both as coworkers and as people. We truly are a family and I’m so thankful to have them in my life.
-Sam Rosenfeld
I’m thankful for working with such amazing fun campers. I can’t wait to return for summer 2018! I’m also very thankful for all the memories I’ve made with my fellow campers and counselors.
-Rahm Shoshana
I am thankful to get to know all the wonderful people during each summer.
-Anonymous
I’m grateful for camp because I get experience doing what I love and learning about to work with kids. All of the campers are so adorable and constantly make me laugh. I learn as much from them as they do from me.
-Hailey Gaffen
I’m thankful for the smiles that I saw on the faces of the campers when they got out of the car every morning. Every day started with so much excitement and joy.
-Ethan Kirshenbaum
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my camp family. Camp provides much more than the activities, sports, and games we do every day. It is the people that make these activities that much more. It is about the laughs, smiles, good days and even challenging days that take place in the fastest forty days you can imagine. Camp families are a special thing that we feel so fortunate to be apart of. It is different type of friendship that can only be described to someone who has experienced the magic of camp. As a Unit Head at EFA, I feel so lucky to work with the amazing and talented admin team and group of counselors that come back each summer. We view camp not as a job, but as a place where we go to enjoy each and every day with each other and our campers. We have turned our friendships into a tight family that we now call the Explorineems. We not only have learned how to support each other in camp, but outside of camp as well, creating lifelong friendships that I am so grateful and lucky to have. They have supported me in my hunt for a job, beginning my master’s program, and with everyday things that happen in life. Camp families are not just those that work at camp but the relationships also reach out to our campers and their families as well. This circle of people continues to grow and to be a part of something like that is unlike anything that can be explained. This Thanksgiving I would like to thank Jen Zislis for providing me with the opportunity to be part of this EFA family. You will be missed at camp every day, but without you the camp family I have would not be possible. Thank you for helping to make something so special. To my counselors, thank you for bringing your positivity, energy and smiles every day. You make my job easy knowing that I have the most amazing people to work with, and make every day worthwhile. I feel very fortunate to know that Apachi J Camp has brought me such a wonderful family.
-Rachel Joseph
I am most thankful for the joy the campers gave me with their energy and singing.
-Oren Meged
I am thankful for having the chance to work at Apachi! My heart glows inside when I see the campers grow from the beginning to the end of the summer! It is amazing how many strides they make and then to become more independent in such a short period of time!!
-Hannah Rubinstein
I am so thankful for the amazing staff that I work with each summer on a daily basis! We are a close family, always there for one another. I am so lucky to be part of such an incredible group of people!
-Brian Solway
When I was 12, my mom basically had to force me to be a CIT, and after two days, I was completely sold. Working with kids and being in such a fun environment completely changed the way I view what “work” means and taught me how much of an impact children can truly have in your life. I’ve been a counselor for two years (and I’m coming back!) and I work with kids on a daily basis during the school year. It’s an amazing place to work and meet people who have the same passion for fun and making summer amazing for as many kids as you can. Thank you, camp!
-Belle Tseitlin
I am thankful for the opportunity that Camp Apachi allows me to make an impact on a camper’s summer, and the opportunity to see how my campers have grown and matured each and every summer.
-Parker Weber
I am thankful to have found a place where I was able to grow and become the adult I wanted to be. I started working at Apachi as a young and inexperienced 15 year old looking for his first job, and now I’m 19, and when I look at how much I have grown emotionally and socially, the majority of it happened while I was working at camp. I am thankful for all that I learned, and I will take it with me for the rest of my life.
-Daniel Weiner
I am most thankful for the relationships I’ve made, not only with the campers, but with the other staff members. This past summer and the summer before it were absolutely wonderful and I cannot wait to rejoin the team next summer!
-Dana Zaffron
I’m thankful for Apachi because it allowed me to be a kid again from 8:40-3:30, 5 days a week, for 9 weeks. Being a college student, you start to lose touch with your youthful and whimsical side. At camp I learned how to harness that again.
-Anonymous
When you think of camps, you tend to focus on the camper’s experience. Very rarely does the staff experience cross your mind. Being a staff member at ZFA for the past three summers has given me the best experience that no camp ever gave to me as a camper. Before my first counselor orientation at ZFA, I was terrified. I didn’t have a ton of experience with kids and didn’t know many other staff members. Walking into a rainy first day of orientation, I also had no idea that ZFA would turn into my favorite place in the world. For the past couple school years, I’ve dreaded being away at school. I’ve struggled in all aspects of living away from home. The only thing that has kept me motivated the whole year was knowing that at the end of the school year, I’d be back at my happy place, Camp Apachi. And for that, I’m incredibly thankful. I’m thankful for all the great staff members I’ve worked with, I’m thankful for all the campers who made me excited to come to work each day, I’m thankful for all the supervisors I’ve had who have taught me to be a leader and most of all, I’m thankful for the ever-lasting friendships I’ve made. I have a few close friends that I met at camp and almost every day we remind each other of a memory we shared at camp or we express to one another how much we’re looking forward to next summer. There’s a reason why all the campers and staff cry on the last day each summer. No matter the stress we face each summer (trust me, there’s plenty of stress), no place on earth makes me happier or makes me feel more loved than when I’m at ZFA.
-Connor Ayres
I am thankful for my experience working at Apachi J Camp because it allowed me to give back. As a child, I went to JCC camps for 12 years and being a counselor enabled me to make children’s summers at Apachi as magical as mine were. It’s a surreal, challenging, and extremely rewarding experience that has taught me patience, leadership, and responsibility. I also met my girlfriend through Apachi so that’s a bonus!
-Ethan Absler
For over 20 years, Apachi has put a smile on my face. Apachi has also given my son some of his best summers both as a camper and a counselor. Forever in my heart!
-Harry Dure
I am thankful for getting to work with so many campers of different types, backgrounds, personalities, genders, social-economic class, and race has expanded my horizons into different cultures other than just my own. I am thankful for learning to work with kids has brought out the child in me. When working at Apachi I am just as able to be so happy that we’re going to clowning… just like my campers. I am thankful for the growth of my skills such as problem-solving. Counselors need to adapt to countless situations. I credit my growth in this area to Apachi. I am thankful for getting to make camper’s summers the best 8 weeks of their year. There is no better feeling. I am thankful for how I get to learn to become a better leader with Apachi. It is the best learning experience I have had thus far in my life.I am thankful for Maccabi Games – Enough Said. #WhiteTeamUnite I am thankful for, making personal connections with over 100 campers in the summer’s I’ve been working at camp. I know them all by name. I know what they want to be when I grow up. I can help them achieve their goals. I am thankful for my fellow counsellors are some of my best friends who I know I will be close with the rest of my life.I am thankful for my 3 Co-Counsellors who have been able to work for hand and hand with me to create a mini family for 8 weeks. They always become my best friend for summer and we will always have a bond that lasts a lifetime. I am thankful for having to be able to pass on what I have learned to 5 CITs who I know will make amazing counsellors in the years to come. They all did there part to make my life easier during the summer. I respect them more than they can imagine. I am thankful for growing up in this camp. I became who I am now because of all my counsellors and all my campers. Apachi is my home away from home.
-Jacob Falberg
I am so thankful for Apachi Day Camp. This camp and the people have made me who I am today. Everybody that works at any Apachi knows how to get pumped up for everything. Anywhere that I’m at I always wish I was at Apachi because that’s how much the atmosphere means to me. A special thanks to the admin team for making this camp the way it’s supposed to be. Can’t wait for another great summer, and the best place under the sun.
-Sam Gradman
I am thankful for the community that Apachi has given me over the years. I meet so many amazing people every year, and I keep the friendships that I make even while we are all away at school. I know that I always have a place at Apachi and that I have made connections that will last a lifetime!
-Raizel Lieberman
One thing I am thankful for at Apachi is the incredible staff. During my first year as a counselor this past summer, I really bonded with the people that I worked with. We all varied in age and came from many different schools. In the beginning of the summer, a lot of us weren’t familiar with another. However, by the end, we were like a family. I became so close with every single person in my unit and had made so many unforgettable memories with them. Saying goodbye on the last day was so hard because I couldn’t imagine not seeing them everyday. I’m beyond grateful for the relationships I formed at Apachi.
-Augie Mikell
I am very thankful to be able to work at the best place under the sun with the best people ever! I am thankful for the inclusion, the friendships, and all the time I get to spend at camp Apachi!
-Katie Penn
If someone asked me the single greatest thing that I’ve ever experienced, without hesitation it would be Apachi Day Camp. And no one else has lived the Apachi experience quite like me. Through being a camper, CIT, and counselor, I haven’t spent one summer away from my home since 3 years old. My first birthday party, my first successful dive in the pool, my first best friend, and my first taste of independence were all on the magical grounds of Apachi Day Camp. It’s crazy to believe that just those 10 acres has impacted my life in a way that nobody could ever understand. A simple “thank you” does not suffice my gratitude for the place that has given me the leadership, confidence, and life changing relationships that I could not have found anywhere else.
-Lauryn Smith
Z Frank Apachi has given me so many things to be thankful for. It has given me wonderful friends and countless summer memories. It has pushed me to grow as a counselor and a friend. Most of all I am thankful as Z Frank Apachi has given me a Jewish community and another place to call home.
-Anonymous