On a typical morning at Camp Olami, campers gather at the amphitheater behind Barry Family Campus, excited to see each other for the day, chanting songs that become their summer anthem. It’s the part of the experience Olami Director Allie Greenstein misses the most.

“Truly, the thing I miss most is seeing and feeling the energy and excitement in our campers, especially through ‘Boker Tov’ screams during morning flagpole.”

In May, as the COVID-19 crisis swept the country and the world, Camp Olami and its counterpart in St. Paul, Camp Butwin, announced the cancellation of in-person camp and the introduction of a new, joint venture—J-Camps @ Home.

The pivot was possible with help from Minneapolis Jewish Federation’s COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. When summer camps made the decision to close, Federation announced a $1 million relief package for area camps serving Minneapolis campers. The funds Olami received helped subsidize the costs of staff time, materials, and hiring outside vendors to lead specialty programming.

“Camp should be accessible to anyone,” says Allie. “The funds from Minneapolis Jewish Federation allowed us to create content that was exciting and meaningful, reaching a wide range of participants ages 5 to 18.” She adds, “We felt strongly about providing this experience free of charge to our families. Thanks to a grant from the Louis Herman Memorial Fund, a designated fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, we were able to offer camp free of charge to all participants.”

Campers display their masterpieces at the end of an art session

What does a day at J Camps @ Home look like?

Instead of starting their day at the amphitheater, campers logged in to Camp Olami from their living rooms, their parents’ home offices, or from homemade forts in their basements. It wasn’t the same—nothing could be—but it did the trick.

“The feedback from families has been really positive. We’ve transformed living rooms into a camp-like space-how cool is that?” says Allie. “We hope we can gather again in person next summer, but this definitely is filling a space we feel really good about.”

Monday morning: flag

Each week 100+ kids tune in on Facebook as Allie, Specialist Director Julia Roston, and Assistant Director Andrea Guinn filmed a 10-minute Facebook live at the amphitheater with so much energy, you’d think 100 kids were actually singing with them in person. They sang familiar prayers and songs, introduced a Hebrew word of the day, and announced birthdays—just as they would at camp on a regular day. Allie grew up at Camp Olami and its theater program, and her enthusiasm and natural stage presence delighted the campers even through Facebook.

“It’s been amazing to create community in a space that’s not really what we’re used to,” she says. “And we’re seeing that the content can still be meaningful despite us not being able to gather in person.”

Daily: Specialty programming

Campers signed up for daily one-hour programs including art, sports, and theater. For these sessions, J Camps @ Home partnered with local experts to provide programming and materials.

In one art class focusing on famous artists, campers received daily packets of materials from ArtRageous, then tuned in to Zoom each day to learn about the artist and follow along with an art project—from creating Monet’s lilypads out of coffee filters to decorating their own versions of Andy Warhol’s soup cans.

During Time Travel Dance, taught by former Olami and Butwin staff who founded the educational theater collective Graceful Monsters, younger campers waltzed, Charleston-ed and disco-ed over Zoom, often falling over in fits of giggles as if they were all in the same room together. Older theater campers wrote, directed, and performed in an entire virtual play.

Daily: DIY Programming

The J Camps @ Home team created a robust activity library for campers to tackle on their own time. The library features staff-created art project tutorials, family workouts, and other lessons.

Daily: Song session

In lieu of z’mirot (song session), the Olami crew posted a daily song of the day that campers could tune into at any point.

Friday afternoon: Kabbalat Shabbat

Though it was tough to replicate the cozy feeling of Friday afternoon at camp, the Olami and Butwin teams delivered virtual Shabbat vibes over Facebook with weekly prayers, traditions, and a discussion of the week’s camp value.

A summer of day camp...at home!