Fredonia camp aims to save lives with water safety program

A new program hosted by the Jewish Community Rainbow Day Camp in the Town of Fredonia is teaching more than 400 children from inner-city Milwaukee water safety and basic swim instruction this summer.

Usually, the day camp simply offers a free swim period, director Lenny Kass said. However, camp officials noticed many of the inner-city children had no experience swimming.

While camp staff won’t be able to teach the children how to swim during the June 17 to August 9 program, Kass said, they hope to teach the basic tenets of water safety.

“Right now, if they (one of the kids) see a friend drowning, they’ll jump right in even if they don’t know how to swim,” he said, explaining the lessons will teach them to use a life preserver or find help instead.

“Even if they won’t learn how to swim, they’ll know not to jump in,” Kass said.

By getting the children accustomed to water safety with lessons on subjects like river currents, the camp will likely save lives, he said.

Camp director Shelby Elias said the experience could also develop “swimmers and athletes for life.”

In September, the children will be invited to six weeks of additional swim lessons at the Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC in Whitefish Bay.

The water safety lessons are one part of the “Road to Rainbow” program that brings children representing 15 Milwaukee-area community organizations and schools to the camp for games, activities and cultural experiences.

“We are a day care trying to make the world a better place,” Kass said. “We are trying to bring these kids together in the hope that if they get along now, they’ll get along when they’re adults.”

The camp’s Counselor in Training program has a similar goal, Kass said, with half of the 30 high school camp assistants this summer coming from Road to Rainbow partner organizations.

Those who excel, Kass said, will be hired as counselors for next year’s summer camp.

“Some of these kids have never had a job before. Some don’t even have a birth certificate,” he said.

Kass said he’s seen the Road to Rainbow program have a profound effect on a number of students.

“We have a kid who started as a fourth or fifth-grader in the program and is now getting a chance to train as a counselor. We are hoping he will be certified as a lifeguard next summer,” Kass said. “The camp has totally changed him.”

The Road to Rainbow program is hosting a record number of children this year, Elias said. The theme is building community.

Counselors will work with campers to build confidence and learn from each other without technology like social media that Elias said degrades self-esteem.

“By trying new things, campers learn they are so much more than their social media following, that they can try something new, fail or excel and it’s all going to be OK,” Elias said.

Road to Rainbow partner organizations include All Hands Boat Works, America SCORES, Augustine Prep, Children’s Hospital Grief Department, Gigi’s Playhouse, Hmong American Peace Academy, Journey House, Meta House, the Milwaukee Tennis Education Foundation and others.

The 110-acre Albert and Ann Deshur JCC Rainbow Day Camp on Trails End Road has served thousands of children, many of them with disabilities, during the last 50 years.

Funding for the Road to Rainbow camp at JCC Rainbow Day Camp is provided through corporate, foundation and individual sponsorship.