In 2000, eight-year-old Brittany Feldman sat in the cheder with her Fishman bunk eating breakfast. She would never have imagined that 19 years later, she would be advocating to improve the quality of the eggs at Tamarack Camps. As Manager of Sustainability and Outdoor Engagement at Hazon Detroit, Brittany is diving into her passion to make our Metro Detroit Jewish Community as “green” as the Tamarack bus.
Hazon: The Jewish Lab for Sustainability, aims to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. One of the ways they are working towards change is through their Seal of Sustainability program, which gives Jewish institutions in our metro Detroit community a roadmap to become healthier and more sustainable through education, action, and advocacy. Tamarack Camps has held the Seal of Sustainability since 2016, when the program was first started here in Detroit.
In 2018, Hazon Detroit received a $25,000 donation from a family foundation to offset the purchase of higher welfare eggs and kosher meat for local Hazon Seal of Sustainability sites, and the larger community. With the help of Brittany Feldman and Hazon Detroit, this summer Tamarack Camps is transitioning from using GFS conventional eggs to cage-free, higher welfare eggs. Not only are the chickens laying the eggs cage-free, higher welfare goes a step further and values animals’ natural behavior, with plenty of exposure to sunlight, ranging in the pastures, and eating naturally. These chickens are living more humane lives!
This is a huge step for Tamarack Camps, and both organizations are extremely proud of this accomplishment. This isn’t the first time these two strong organizations have joined forces. They worked together on building the design for the Sensory Garden and developing the Farber Farm.
Before working at Hazon, Brittany attended Tamarack Camps for 14 straight summers, which led to her being the first ever intern for Tamarack Adventure and Retreat Center. Her passion for the outdoors started at camp. “my junior year of college I had my first a-ha moment of what I wanted to do with my life and realized I was most passionate about working in nature and helping people connect to the outdoors,” Brittany shared.
Her love for camp and the outdoors then took her professionally to Farmington Hills Nature Center where she managed their Nature Day Camp and worked as a naturalist. This is where Brittany’s skills blossomed in outdoor education leadership. A couple years later, a past employee from Tamarack Camps reached out and told her about the great work Hazon was starting to do in Detroit, Brittany reached out to them, and the rest is history!
Brittany has been working on significant changes like this in the community for years. “This is a Hazon accomplishment, a Seal of Sustainability accomplishment and really a personal accomplishment. When I started with Hazon, I always wanted to do something big with Tamarack Camps.”
Brittany is thrilled to still be a contributing member of the Tamarack community and create a lasting impact on camp and campers alike. She’s happy to give back to an organization that has given so much to her.
