Investor UPDATE 2024
MISSION & VALUES
Mission
Our mission is to nurture the character development of Jewish youth by providing them the opportunity to challenge themselves physically, spiritually, and socio-emotionally.
Values
Respect
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We cultivate a culture of selfrespect, inclusion, and acceptance. Our staff and campers learn that we can only function as a true community when we show kavod to others, to the environment, and to ourselves.
JOY
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Our campers and staff experience authentic joyful Judaism every day through friendship, teamwork, and learning, and through the simcha (joy) of being part of a vibrant Jewish community.
GROWTH
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We believe in “Challenge by Choice,” and daily give our campers the opportunity and encouragement to challenge themselves physically, intellectually, socio-emotionally, and spiritually.
CONNECTION
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We seek to strengthen our relationship with God, create an enduring love of the State of Israel and the broader Jewish people, and become worthy caretakers of the natural world around us.
The guitars and drums are silent. 300+ youth dressed in white rise from their benches, turn, and sing the final section of Lecha Dodi in unison: “Bo’i v’shalom ateret ba’alah” vkgc ,ryg oukac htuc. As the stanza concludes, the tempo picks up, the strumming and drumming return, and the entire community breaks out into song with many running into the field to form dancing circles. This event happens each Friday afternoon at the conclusion of Kabbalat Shabbat. It is a genuine display of simcha to which I look forward each week on the our chava (ranch).
It has been a long and emotional off-season. Throughout this challenging year, I have yearned to come back to camp to celebrate shabbat with our community. For ten weeks each summer, we create an oasis of joyous Jewish living and learning in which young Jews from all over North America and Israel can live, learn, sing, dance, and pray together. The atmosphere we create each week remains in the memories and hearts of all those who are with us long after they leave our chava.
We spend our year planning tirelessly for the summer, knowing that throughout the off-season hundreds of youth are also counting down the days until camp begins. This summer we are welcoming a record number of Israeli staff and are eager to learn from and with them. As Jews, we are at a pivotal moment in our history, and we hope that the values we espouse at camp will impact communities both in North America and in Israel when our campers and staff return home.
The costs to sustain Ramah in the Rockies are immense, with tuition covering only a portion. Over the past two years, our property insurance and seasonal labor costs have increased significantly. As we enter our 15th season, we continue to invest in our physical plant, and must also turn our attention to its long-term sustainability through securing our water rights, paying off our mortgage, and launching a new endowment campaign.
It is because of investors like you that we continue to nurture the character development of Jewish youth. Thank you for being a part of our community and for helping to empower the next generation of Jewish leaders.
A NOTE FROM RABBI ELIAV BOCK
Executive Director
In 2024 we are:
Investing in our outdoor skills (sada’ut) program with a larger staff, a new whittling option, and expanded outdoor cooking opportunities
Creating two new single-tracks
Encouraging free play among campers with a new toolsbased activity area
Nurturing the leadership potential in each staff member through supportive and effective mentoring, training, and feedback
Running 3 solar arrays to cover up to 40% of our community’s energy needs
Expanding shoulder-season rental and retreats
Campers and staff will spend 3,800+ nights sleeping in tents on masa’ot (excursions)
campers served 450+ staff working at camp 160+
88% Return of campers (our highest ever)
US campers will come from 35 states
35+ mishlachat (Israeli staff members) joining our community
Nurturing the character development of our staff IS part of our mission
Now, more than ever, our college-age staff need the support afforded to them in our joyous Jewish community.
Because of you
100+ college-age staff are engaged in a powerful Jewish summer experience
Ramah provides a rich training ground for staff to become Jewish leaders. Our staff act as role models for our campers. Through sharing Jewish values and traditions, leading outdoor activities, and connecting personally with campers, our staff become inspiring teachers to those only a few years younger than them. This nurturing, non-competitive, and friendly environment encourages staff to move beyond their comfort zones to experience new, unexpected levels of confidence and personal achievement.
As our staff and alumni move forward with their lives they:
• Become leaders and strengthen the Jewish world
• Live more joyful Jewish and environmentally-aware lives
• Serve as role models for Jewish children and teens
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As Jews, we are all connected to each other!
Each year we invest tens of thousands of dollars in bringing Israeli staff members to be part of our community. In 2024, we will have a record 35+ join our tzevet. These Israelis give generously to our community and then take home values and lessons to create change back in Israel.
Creating an enduring love for the State, people, and Land of Israel
Appreciating the complexities involved in living in a Jewish and democratic State
Learning and practicing Hebrew
Creating relationships and memories that last a lifetime
CONNECTIONS
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Exchanging of different perspectives
Understanding the richness and diversity of diaspora Jewry
Experiencing an open and joyous form of observance
Deepening one’s own Jewish identity
2024 operating budget
Expenses
$2,515,608
Year-round expenses
Site & insurance
Summer program & salaries
● Site & insurance: $514,556
● Summer program & salaries: $1,076,049
● Year-round expenses: $925,003
Income
CAMPER TUITION COVERS JUST 77% OF OPERATING EXPENSES
Annual fundraising needed to run camp
Camper tuition
● Camper tuition & miscellaneous income: $1,940,862
● Annual fundraising needed to run camp: $574,746
capital investments
In addition to the annual operating budget above, we make capital improvements to our ranch based on designated gifts and multi-year pledges.
2023
Bouldering wall, bike skills park, solar panels, retention pond design
2024 (anticipated)
Two new bike single tracks, Phase I retention pond construction, and security upgrades
2025 (anticipated)
Completion of retention pond, Phase I soundproofing dining hall, senior staff housing pod
THANK YOU
We rely on gifts of all sizes to sustain the magic of camp for years to come. We especially want to celebrate the new gifts received over the past 15 months. Your ongoing support and investment in our community enables us to continually impact the lives of 550+ Jewish youth each summer!
Gifts received over the past 15 months
April 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
$100,000+ 1 donor = $240,000 IN gifts
$36,000+ 4 donors = $216,500 in gifts
$10,000+ 16 donors = $249,000 in gifts
$1,000+ 83 donors = $187,000 in gifts
$1+ 282 donors = $64,000 in gifts
TOTAL = $956,500
Immediate: By the close of 2024
Retention pond
Water is a valuable commodity in Colorado. We must construct a retention pond that can release water back into the stream to offset our usage in times of drought. Failure to move forward with this project will likely result in the Colorado water court adding our rights to the abandonment list, preventing us from being able to expand our program in the future due to a lack of water.
$1.2 million needed
$810,000 raised
Bike Trail Upgrades and Expansion
$120,000 needed
$70,000 raised
$140,000 annual allocation to need-based scholarships
Near Term: By the Close of 2025
2024-2025 Program Development
Solar Farm
We hope to convert most of our electricity to solar, reducing our carbon footprint and energy bills.
$300,000 needed
We must continue to invest in creating new, innovative programs and re-invigorating existing ones. We are investing in additional mental health support for staff and campers as well as continuing to grow our staff program and training.
$100,000 needed
Senior Staff Housing
To attract and retain senior staff, we hope to create four additional living areas that can also be used for shoulderseason retreats. We want to build four tiny homes that are connected to our year-round electric and sewer system. By the end of 2025, we hope to have completed Phase I of this project with a proof of concept for future expansion.
$200,000 needed
Soundproofing the Dining Hall
While we have a beautiful dining hall, the noise inside is unbearable for too many. We need to engage a sound engineer to understand our options and then invest in commercial-grade sound dampening technology to allow for a more pleasant eating and programming experience.
$150,000 needed
We are seeking 25 additional individuals to make after-lifetime commitments by naming Ramah in their trusts, retirement plans, or life insurance policy.
Contact Rabbi Eliav Bock, or our board chair, Scott Michaud, to make a commitment.
Paying off our mortgage of $3.5 million
With these funds, we will be debt-free and able to divert the carrying costs of the mortgage into our Colorado camper scholarship fund.
Name our Ranch: $7 million
With these funds we will achieve the aforementioned goals, and seed an endowment fund that will provide enough interest in perpetuity to underwrite scholarships for all eligible campers and support our mishlachat program to bring Israeli staff to camp.
My daughters often tell me that picking Ramah in the Rockies was probably the best decision I ever made for them, and I feel the same way…. We are heartbroken that this was their last summer as campers, although they fully plan to return as counselors.
– Lisa, camp parent
I particularly appreciate that the focus at camp is not only on providing a very fun summer for the kids (which it certainly was), but also on nurturing their personal development and helping them grow into the kind of people we hope they will be.
– Ilana, camp parent
