Financial Aid

We are committed to ensuring that no child is denied a Jewish summer experience at Beber Camp, regardless of a family’s financial need.

As such, internal need-based assistance is available through our scholarship fund for all of our programs and we have partnered with the One Happy Camper (Campership) program to provide first-time incentives to encourage parents to choose Jewish camp. See below for the Beber Financial Aid application and for tools to help make camp more affordable for your family.

Needs-Based Assistance

In partnership with our alumni, board, private foundations, and individual donors, Beber Camp is able to provide financial assistance to our camp families.

• Beber Camp offers need-based scholarships to all of our families. Families requesting financial assistance pay a reduced deposit amount and flexible payment schedules are available.
• One source of scholarship funds can be your local synagogue. Many synagogues provide assistance on behalf of their member families for camp programs.
• Another source of financial assistance is the Jewish Federation in your community. Many local Federations now sponsor needs-based camp scholarships.
• We are committed to be your partner as your family moves through the financial aid process. Please do not hesitate to contact us at (847) 677-7130 with any questions or concerns.

Click here to fill out the 2021 financial aid application.

Click here if you need to submit additional financial documents.

“One Happy Camper” First Year Incentive Grants

Intended for Jewish children not currently participating in a daily immersive Jewish experience, this gift – Up to $1,000 for first-year campers, and $500 for each additional sibling attending for their first time – is a bold statement about the importance of the overnight Jewish camp experience to the future of our community.

To apply for this grant, visit onehappycamper.org.

The system will automatically determine your eligibility based on a variety of factors, including location, participation in a full-time Jewish Day School program, and camper age. Generally speaking, to be eligible for a grant, summer sessions must be at least nineteen days long to qualify for funding through this program—therefore, our two-week rookie session for first-time Makor campers is not eligible. However, Rookie sessions extended to our full four-week session do qualify.

Traveling to Israel with our Pioneer Program?

Have a camper who is participating in the Pioneer Israel Trip? Exciting! The Financial Aid process for this program is similar, but separate from the general camp scholarship program. Families requesting financial assistance for the Pioneer Israel Trip should complete the Beber Camp Financial Aid Application and pursue sources of local funding for teen leadership Israel programming.

Community Support

Beber Camp, as well as many local communities, have set aside monies specifically for sending campers to Israel. We have highlighted several communities and listed relevant contact information below:

Chicago, Illinois – Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

In Chicago, the funding criteria and applications for the JUF’s Israel Trip financial aid programs are online. We’ve linked to them here:

• Jewish Federation Israel Experience High School financial need-based scholarship
• Jewish Federation Israel Experience Merit Scholarship

Cleveland, OH – Jewish Education Center of Cleveland

Information regarding scholarship specific to the Cleveland area can be found here.

Louisville, KY – Jewish Community of Louisville

Applications for both camp and Israel can be found here.

New for 2020

• Campers that have never been on an organized trip to Israel can be eligible for up to $4,000 in scholarship.
• Campers that have been on an organized trip to Israel can be eligible for up to $1,000 in scholarship.

Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Jewish Federation

While the Milwaukee Federation does not have financial assistance available for Israel teen programs, families can utilize any monies they have set aside through the “Passport 2 Israel” program. Questions about utilizing these funds can be found here.