Doreen Hermelin and Jason Luckoff will be honored at this year’s fundraiser on May 17.
“I believe camp is the best gift a parent can give to a child, and I am so happy to be a part of sending children to Tamarack.”
These inspiring words from Doreen Hermelin, this year’s Send a Kid to Tamarack (SK2T) Community Leader award, are a testament to the vital role summers at Tamarack Camps play in children’s lives and the value of being financially accessible make a camp for everyone. She will be honored at Night of Bright Lights, May 17 at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Hermelin is a true living legend who leads by example. Following her lead, her wide network of friends, family and fans also generously invest and get involved in building, empowering and nurturing the Jewish future in Michigan, Israel and beyond.
Hermelin has given a lifetime of service to the Jewish community. She served as campaign chairman and later president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Women’s Division, now JFMD’s Women’s Philanthropy. She was also ORT’s first national president and remains a lifetime trustee and vice president of the honorary council.
Making sure they can go to camp is one of the best gifts the Jewish community can give to the children who will grow into future Jewish leaders. The entire cost of the summer camp is significant and would be prohibitively expensive for many were it not for the generosity, large and small, of Tamarack Camps’ donors.
Tamarack Camps rest on a foundation of five core values:
- Developing people
- Live Jewish
- Create safe spaces
- Be financially honest
- Build an inclusive community
The annual SK2T campaign benefits every camp participant. The costs of the camp are subsidized, at least in part, per camper. For campers in need of additional financial support, the money raised through the SK2T campaign helps close the gap and welcome every camper to Tamarack Camps summer after summer. It is amazing to what extent campers develop and grow through the opportunity to live Jewish in a safe, fair and inclusive space.
Jason Luckoff, a longtime camper and now a staff member of Tamarack Camps, will be honored this year as an honored alumni during the annual Night of Bright Lights campaign benefiting SK2T.
Luckoff first came to Tamarack Camps almost 20 years ago as a camper. His Tamarack journey began in 2004 as a Horizon camper in Applebaum Village and continued into the new Avodah Pro program launching in 2022. The Avodah Pro Program combines vocational training and experience with the best of a summer camp. Jason’s favorite camp activities are water skiing and omanut (arts and crafts). When Jason is not at camp, he lives independently in Birmingham with his dog Henry. He is a performer at Soul Studio and a usher at the Fox Theater in Detroit. Luckoff attributes the fullness of his life and his independence to Tamarack Camps.
In case you’re going for gold on Tamarack Camps trivia and everything SK2T, Jason celebrated his bar mitzvah in 2009 at Hermelin Village in Tamarack Camps, named after Doreen Hermelin and her beloved and larger than life husband, blessed memory, David Hermelin.
“Tamarack Camps is our community’s camp, serving every child,” said Lori Davidson-Mertz, director of annual giving at Tamarack Camps. “For many of our children, this is their only Jewish experience…Camp provides a Jewish foundation and is a place where children learn to become leaders.”
Night of Bright Lights in honor of Doreen Hermelin and Jason Luckoff, and in aid of SK2T’s annual campaign, will take place on Wednesday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
The attendance and fundraising goal for this year’s event is 450 attendees and $750,000 raised. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation links each gift to the 2023 annual SK2T campaign.
Let’s come together as a community to send kids to Tamarack Camps.
Visit https://tamarackcamps.com/giving/send-a-kid-to-tamarack/sk2t-event to register, donate and purchase an ad in the 2023 SK2T Event Journal.