LETTERS & PACKAGES

LETTERS FROM CAMPERS

Campers are required to write home twice a week. Due to our location, letters sent through the USPS may take additional time to arrive home. As a result, when you read a letter from your camper, the news is old. To help with delivery of mail, we suggest that you provide your child with self addressed, pre-stamped envelopes and/or postcards and/or ensure that they know how to address mail. Camp will provide a pre-stamped postcard on the first day of camp, knowing this is the quickest way for you to receive the first hello! If you have concerns from a letter that you receive, please call Camp and ask to speak to your child’s Yoetzet.

LETTERS TO CAMPERS

Please write your child often! Receiving mail from home helps campers feel secure and connected while they are away at camp.

For prompt delivery, please address mail in the following way, including Camper’s Name and bunk # (first letter of their edah (i.e. M9 or N27)

Max Rosen, M9
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
2618 Upper Woods Road
Lakewood, PA 18439-3939

NEW FOR SUMMER 2024 - CAMPANION LETTERS

You can read more about our new Campanion app here!

Families are now able to see letter replies from their campers in Campanion Mobile. Composing letters within the Campanion app allows families to send their campers a printed, hand-delivered letter while their camper is away. Letters can be composed and sent conveniently right from your device or in your Camp in Touch account under Online Community, Email. This provides a two-way solution for parent-to-camper communication. Letter responses will be viewable under the ‘reply’ tab, and an orange indicator lets them know when they have a new message from their camper. Parents who have opted to receive push notifications will get a notification when they have a letter reply from their camper in Campanion mobile. When a parent clicks the notification they will be taken to view the letter reply. There is no charge to send or receive Campanions Letters for 2024.

How do I send and receive letters with my camper in Campanion?

To send and read letters in the Campanion app, click the three horizontal lines in the top left of your Campanion app to get to the Menu page. Choose ‘Letters’.

Send a letter: Click the pencil icon in the top right of the Letters page. Select the Camper from the dropdown, and add a message. When ready, choose if you would like a handwritten reply (using eLetter Stationary) click the box at the bottom. Click 'Send Your Letter'.

Read a Reply: Camper letters are under the 'Replies' tab. You can save and share letters on the bottom of the screen, same as with photos. The Campanion app permanently archives sent letters so that you can re-read – and relive – each moment of camp any time. You can also easily view when letters have been received to make sure that your camper doesn’t miss your message.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Parents can check the option to include a "handwritten ereply letter" as often as you choose. Any ereply that your child writes will ONLY be scanned twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday.
• This is a new initiative with this vendor - please allow time for implementation. In addition, power outages or wifi issues are out of our control and may cause delays. We will do our best to scan ereplies as soon as possible whenever there is an issue.
• Staff will NOT enforce children to respond via an ereply. Please discuss with your child, prior to camp, your expectations for them.
• Please remember that mail is not distributed on Shabbat. Bunk replies that you attached on Friday will not be given to your camper until Sunday. Delivery of ereplies may also be delayed due to camper schedule or trips.

FOR ANY ADDITIONAL CAMPANION RELATED QUESTIONS, CONTACT CAMPANION DIRECTLY at 303-444-2267 Ext 4.

PACKAGE POLICY

CAMP RAMAH WILL ONLY DELIVER LETTERS, POSTCARDS, AND CAMPANION EREPLIES

Packages, regardless of size, will no longer be delivered to campers.

Letters, cards, and postcards are great ways to send a heartfelt "care package" that highlights "care" over "package." Any unauthorized packages received at camp will be donated. We do not have the personnel to deliver unnecessary packages. Please share this revised policy with any friends or family members who may consider sending a package to your camper.

If you determine that there is a critical necessity that your child requires during their time at camp, please email your child’s yoetzet for assistance. Information for contacting your child’s yoetzet will be available in June. It is camp's policy that pre-approved packages are opened by camp staff to ensure the health and safety of the camp community. All food items, including candy and gum, will be confiscated.

At Ramah, we strive to teach children that camp itself is a gift and to encourage them to spend their time enjoying and participating in the camp experience with their friends. We aim to cultivate a clean, healthy environment. This policy follows a nationwide trend among summer camps to prevent an inevitable sense of inequity or imbalance among the campers, to minimize our environmental footprint, and to reduce the emphasis on material objects in a community that emphasizes human connection and natural beauty.