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A special camp for special kids

For most families, summer camp is a commitment that lasts anywhere from a few weeks to several months. But, for Jacques Hay, who owns and operates Award Winners trophy shop in Northridge, camp is constantly on his mind.
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May 27, 2010

For most families, summer camp is a commitment that lasts anywhere from a few weeks to several months. But, for Jacques Hay, who owns and operates Award Winners trophy shop in Northridge, camp is constantly on his mind.

Raising money for Camp Chesed, the first Los Angeles-based Jewish summer camp for children with special needs, is a yearlong preoccupation for Hay as well as his wife, Judy, and their three children.

“Every year, by the grace of God, we get money in,” Hay said.

Camp Chesed, Hebrew for kindness, has hosted hundreds of campers over the past 15 years. During the two-week day camp — which meets June 20 to July 2 this year at the Bernard Milken Jewish Community
Campus in West Hills — each kid is matched up with two counselors, and together they participate in activities that include swimming, movies, sports, visits to amusement parks, even overnights with families.

“Last year, we took 270 people overnight to Disneyland; whole families — brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents. Everyone stayed in a hotel and then spent the day at Disneyland,” Hay said.

Another highlight of Camp Chesed is a private session at a flight school. “The kids spend an hour learning about airplanes. Then they have a flight over Los Angeles. While they are in midair, each camper takes a turn actually flying the airplane,” Hay said.

The cost for these experiences: absolutely nothing.

The Hays founded Camp Chesed in 1993 as a way to teach their children about the value of tikkun olam — repairing the world.

Hay traces the original inspiration for the camp to a charitable effort led by his oldest son, Joshua, then 11 years old. After he met John Flowers, a promising college basketball prospect for California State University, Northridge, whose career was cut short by a tragic accident that claimed both of his legs, Joshua helped raise money to pay for Flowers’ prosthetic limbs. Years later, when Joshua’s younger sister, Jalena, wanted a mitzvah project, the idea for the special-needs camp was born.

“My family saw the need for the camp in our community, and no one was doing anything about it,” said Joshua Hay, now a 29-year-old music business analyst living in New York City. “When people said it couldn’t be done, we didn’t listen. We just went ahead and created the camp.”

During the first year, the family hosted 17 campers with a range of disabilities. The camp was then — as it still is — free to all.

Joshua, along with his younger siblings, Jalena, 26, and Jonathan, 25, return to Los Angeles each year to help run Camp Chesed with their parents.

Matt Mallel, 7, who has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum, can’t wait for camp to begin this year, and his mom shares his excitement.

“Camp really helps with Matt’s self-esteem. It’s such a relief to have my child come home from camp and everything went as he wanted. He is on top of the world, and that’s where my heart is,” Leeanne Mallel said. 
She says camp is a welcome break for Matt, who is busy with speech and occupational therapy along with other commitments during the year.

“Each kid gets these two counselors, who are the greatest kids you have ever met. The campers are doted on from the moment you drop them off to the moment you pick them up,” Mallel said.

No campers, regardless of their level of ability, are turned away, and parents are also invited to participate in the camp experience. The camp is oriented toward the Orthodox community and observes kashrut, but Jewish families from all levels of observance attend.

Most of the counselors at Camp Chesed are Orthodox high school and college students who volunteer their time, and Joshua Hay says that the volunteers receive more than they give.

“Not only does camp provide a service for the special-needs children of our community, it provides a service for the teens and volunteers. The volunteers learn a strong sense of responsibility and learn about putting their campers first and giving to others during the camp session,” he said.

Campers and volunteers become like family, celebrating each other’s triumphs as well as mourning together, Jacques Hay says.

“When one of our campers passed away, our counselors made the minyan at his gravesite,” Hay said.

On the happy side, he says several of his former counselors have met their spouses while working at Camp Chesed.

The fun and festivities do not end with summer camp. Each year, the Hays organize a Chanukah party for their “Camp Chesed family,” with more than 400 people in attendance.

But when the summer session does end, awards are given out for Camper of the Year.

“Thank God I own a trophy shop, because every camper wins the award for Camper of the Year,” Jacques Hay said.

For more information about Camp Chesed, visit campchesed.com.

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