Jordan River Village

Jordan River Village

Jordan River Village is a camp serving children from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the Middle East with serious and life-threatening diseases at no cost to their families. Its goal is "to enrich the lives of Jewish and Arab children, in Israel and in the neighboring countries, suffering from serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions by creating free, fun-filled, memorable, empowering, medically sound and safe camping experiences".^[1]

History

The Jordan River Village Association was founded in 2000 in Israel by Marilyn and Murray Grant. Jordan River Village began operations in August 2011 in the Lower Galilee. The village is part of SeriousFun Network, formerly the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, an international network of camps based on the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, founded in 1988 in Connecticut by Paul Newman. Newman played Ari Ben Canaan in the 1960 film Exodus, filmed in the same region of Israel as the camp is located.

The village covers an area of 25.4 hectares (63 acres), and includes dormitories for guests and staff, a swimming pool, sports facilities, a gymnasium, a theater, a library, an art and crafts center, a camping area, an extreme sports venue, as well as a construction management center and a training and medical center.

The Israeli government helped establish and maintains the village, contributing up to 20% of its budget.^[2] Chaim Topol serves as chairman of the board.^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jordan River Village.

• Official website
• כפר נהר הירדן [Jordan River Village] (in Hebrew). Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee (Israel). 
• Kobi David (22 March 2011). כפר נהר הירדן יפעל בתוך חמישה חודשים [Jordan River Village will operate within five months] (in Hebrew). MyNet. 
• Renee Ghert-Zand (February 1, 2012). "A River Runs Through It". The Jewish Week. Retrieved October 21, 2013.