Camp Rosenbaum
Welcome to Camp Rosenbaum's page on CafeGive. We are very grateful to have the opportunity to share with you the uniqueness of Camp Rosenbaum, our goals and objectives, and our 40 years of history. We thank you in advance for shopping on CafeGive and helping to support Camp Rosenbaum at the same time.
—Lisa Edgington, Chair of the Board
Camp Rosenbaum Fund
Camp Rosenbaum's goal is to empower children to take responsibility for their lives, make the right choices, and turn away from the allure of trouble. What we reinforce is the hope and direction for a better future by learning the meaning of good citizenship, experiencing the value of self-esteem, discovering that learning is fun and rewarding, and set attainable goals to stay in school. Camp's objective is to let kids experience the joy of childhood in a fun and caring environment, while planting the seeds of motivations and empowerment to stay in school and become a contributing member of society.
This is no ordinary camp. Camp Rosenbaum is comprised solely of volunteers from the servicing housing authorities, The Oregon National Guard, the Portland Police Bureau, as well as several local county, city and state law enforcement and fire protection agencies adding up to over 23,000 hours for 40 years. Many volunteers have dedicated their time consistently for 30+ consecutive years.
Every summer 160+ kids from the housing authority properties are given the opportunity to enjoy Camp Rosenbaum with activities such as horseback riding, fishing, building sand sculptures, music, making treasures out of leather and beads, camping out and singing around the camp fire, fields trips to the ocean, Seaside Aquarium, Ft. Clatsop and the Maritime Museum, and cardboard hill.
Each day camp has a theme to help instill good citizenship. The campers build a friendship bracelet receiving a color each day representing the theme; working together, being fair, sharing, being loyal, caring and the last day is good citizens are everywhere.
It's All About the Kids...
Our Founder-Brigadier General Fred Rosenbaum, was motivated to create a camp for kids due to his own childhood. He left Vienna, Austria on the 'Children's Transport' at the age of 12. He was reunited with his parents after years of living as a foster child. In 1971, at the time he had a family of his own, he realized a path to help other kids enjoy their childhood and learn to take responsibility of their lives. He started the first camp known as HAP Camp by using Camp Rilea as the site, having the campers come from the housing authorities of Oregon and SW Washington, using volunteers also from housing authorizes and the National Guard.
After years of success, Governor Vic Atiyeh renamed HAP Camp to Camp Rosenbaum to reflect the efforts of its founder. To this day, 40 years later, Camp Rosenbaum still has its unique partners, Camp Rilea, The National Guard, Housing Authorities and Portland Police Bureau and Gresham Fire Fighters. The Camp still runs solely on volunteers, including a Board of Directors.
Camp Rosenbaum has received national acclaim over the years, winning the Freedoms Foundation Award of Valley Forge, National Award of Merit from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment, Minute Man Mike Award, Specific Activity Award from the US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, Outstanding Achievement Award from the Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Special Recognition for Outstanding Service from the National Guard Association of the US.
Camp Rosenbaum is free to the campers. Donations are used to pay for the cash expenses of the camp in support of the children and volunteers. This includes meals, camp clothing, supplies for the activities, personal hygiene, photography, medical supplies, and miscellaneous items.
Sponsor a camper for $300, sponsor a bay of campers for $3,000, sponsor two bays (one boy and one girl) for $6,000. We appreciate you taking the time to consider supporting Camp Rosenbaum Fund for the benefit of our youth citizenship Camp Rosenbaum.
For more information about Camp Rosenbaum, visit camprosenbaum.org
