Meet Our Executive Director

Letter from Michael Friedman

"Welcome to the Vacamas website. For the past 87 years, through good times and bad, our organization has been committed to providing our children with a positive experience in our camps and school programs." Read More >

Our History

Vacamas was established in 1924 by a group of teachers, social workers and businessmen who saw the need for young immigrant women from the Lower East Side to spend a few weeks of the summer in a country setting. They founded the East Side Vacation Camp Association, purchased a campsite in Kingston, New York and began providing summer camping for girls. In 1948, the camp changed its name to Camp Vacamas as it expanded to include children from all over the New York metropolitan area. Camp Vacamas became co-ed in 1954. As the organization grew, we needed a new site to accommodate more children. Camp Vacamas moved to its present site in rural West Milford, New Jersey in 1955. Vacamas became one of the first camps to integrate in the 1960’s.

In the 1980s, Vacamas Programs for Youth began providing year-round programming through in-school drop-out prevention and mentoring initiatives. In 1990, Vacamas Programs for Youth founded sister camp Top of the Pines to meet the growing needs of children from the New York Metropolitan area. In 1998, Vacamas began collaborating with the Newark Office of Alternative Education to provide specialized programming for the middle school students in their program. In recent years, we have also offered Alternative Education programs for students from Elizabeth and Perth Amboy. Today, Vacamas employs 50 full-time staff members and an additional 100 part-time staff members in our various school-based programs. Youth development, conflict mediation and team-building are important components of every program we run.

In 2008, Vacamas incorporated Trade Winds Lake Camp into our organization in order to provide additional camping opportunities for youngsters and to reduce overhead costs. Vacamas easily included back office operations and many other functions into current operations, thereby improving efficiency and effectiveness and reducing duplication and cost of services.

In 2011, Vacamas continues to thrive and grow, running three camps during the summer, hosting many groups through our Day Trips and Retreats program, providing mentoring programs in New York City, offering Supplemental Education Services in schools throughout New York City and New Jersey, and providing after school learning programs in four Newark Public Schools. We are also pleased to announce the introduction of Vacamas Day Camp, offering local residents a variety of options including extended day schedules, theme weeks and field trips.

Our Mission

Vacamas Programs for Youth is committed to offering quality experiential learning programs to low and moderate income families and at-risk youth populations. All of our programs are based on a non-competitive philosophy geared toward fostering the individuality of each child. We work to empower young people and to teach them the skills they need to make positive choices by working to improve self-esteem, social skills and behavior. Vacamas is a multicultural community that serves a diverse population on every level: economic, gender, religious, racial and cultural.

QUESTIONS?

You can contact us at any time if you have questions about our camps, our programs, donations or anything else. Please feel free to call us at 973-838-0942.