Sunrise Day Camp-Pearl River

Sunrise Day Camp Campers celebrate the Winter with a successful “Winter Festival Reunion” !

Sunrise Day Camp-Pearl River has 3 camp reunions during the off season to extend the “magic” of camp and to allow for the campers to see each other and various staff members. Sunrise-Pearl River hosted a very successful fall-themed family reunion at the JCC in October 2015 and then another, even more successful, camper-only reunion in December 2015. Over 70 Sunrise campers and 25 staff members attended the third annual “Winter Festival Reunion” on Sunday, December 20 at the Rosenthal JCC in Pleasantville, NY. Campers and staff came in from all over the Metro NY area.

The reunion kicked off with lots of hugs, joy, and laughter as campers reunited with each other and favorite staff. Everyone enjoyed a sing-a-long concert by Michael Aloi of “Songs for Smiles”, a pizza lunch, followed by choices of various activities. Campers enjoyed the “Moon Bounce”, sports and games in the gym, winter-themed crafts and snacks. As a way to “wind down”, everyone relaxed while watching the movie “Minions” and snacking on popcorn in the gym.

One highlight of the reunion was the presentation of holiday gifts that were donated by the Carmel Academy of Greenwich, Connecticut, plus other donors. The story behind the gifts is truly heart-warming. Carmel 3^rd grade students participated in a month-long fundraising project. They read books every night and parents donated money based on the amount of time that their child spent reading. The students (after counting the money, which became a math lesson) then purchased age-appropriate toys and gift cards for all of the campers who attended the reunion. Additional funds collected from parents and grandparents supplemented the students’ funds. Another donor of presents was Chavurat Tikvah of Southern Westchester. Sheri Seiler and Erica Baren, from Sunrise's Rock the River Committee, initiated a toy drive in their communities, and they collected and wrapped over 60 beautiful gifts for our campers. 

Sunrise campers were so thrilled with their presents! Thank you to Carmel families, Chavurat Tikvah, Sheri Seiler and Erica Baren! And thank you to our amazing Assistant Camp Director, Jeremy Levin, a teacher at Carmel, for spearheading this meaningful project.

Every fall we hold a “Fall Festival Family Reunion” at camp in Rockland County before the weather turns cold to celebrate fall and bring campers, their families and staff together. It is always so wonderful to see everyone and enjoy the Sunrise facilities decorated with scarecrows, hay, pumpkins and other fall symbols. We planned for this fall’s reunion to take place at camp on Sunday, October 4.  It rained for a few days before that, so we moved the event to our off-season offices at the Rosenthal JCC in Pleasantville, but that did not hamper attendance, spirit or enthusiasm.

The morning of the reunion 11 volunteers (1 adult and 10 teens) arrived at the JCC to help decorate and set up for the day.  They set up the s’mores kits, filled backpacks with donated school supplies and cut out papers that were later used for art projects, and set up an outdoor corn “maze”! They also had a chance to learn about Sunrise from our Camp Director, Sandy Haft.  Then gradually about 25 Sunrise Staff members and 90 campers, siblings and parents from all over the Metro NY area – from various towns in New Jersey, Orange County, Rockland, the Bronx, Westchester and Manhattan, arrived by bus and car to enjoy the Fall Festivities at the JCC.  Laughter and joy filled the air as staff and campers greeted and hugged each other.

Campers and their families enjoyed participating in a variety of activities. The JCC was decorated for fall and we used most of the rooms in the facility for all of the different events. Campers and families had their photos taken and then they decorated photo frames. Other projects included creating door hangers and colorful fall-themed sun catchers, and pumpkin decorating.  Campers and families gobbled s’mores and chocolate covered pretzels, which they had made. Sports activities enjoyed by all included basketball, “Moon Bounce” jumper, outdoor playground and the outdoor corn maze.

At the end of the day, each child received a brand new school backpack that was filled with a variety of school supplies. The backpacks and supplies were collected by UJA Federation and given to Sunrise. The children were so thrilled with these backpacks! We were happy too about receiving the donations!

Thank you to all of the volunteers and donors who made this reunion possible. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Our next reunion will take place on December 20 at the JCC and this get together will be limited to children and camp staff.  We will have a musical performance for all to enjoy.  We invite the campers without parents to this reunion to allow parents to go holiday shopping or just enjoy some personal time. We can’t wait to see everybody again in December!