At Tamarack Camps, we are so fortunate to have the most dedicated and thoughtful board members and community leaders. A star among stars is Elizabeth Sollish, and I am so excited to officially introduce her as our newest Vice President of Advancement.
As our President, Michael Cooper reflected in his article, everyone – including our board and staff – has a role to play in our advancement efforts. Our roles are fueled by our deep connections to and passion for Tamarack, and by working together, we can connect donors’ passions to agency needs.
Under Elizabeth’s leadership, we challenged our board to first discover why they are passionate about Tamarack and lead by example by sharing their “why” with our community.
Please read Elizabeth’s “why,” and we invite you to share in her passion for Tamarack and our camp community in the year ahead.
MY “WHY”
By Elizabeth Sollish, Vice President, Advancement
My grandfather had a way of finishing every toast I ever heard him give… and to me, it’s the epitome of family. To me, it’s what we do at camp, year after year.
The words from my Papa’s lips resonates with me in my daily living: FROM YOU I RECEIVE, TO YOU I GIVE, TOGETHER WE SHARE, FROM THIS WE LIVE
Nearly 50 years ago, I stepped off my first green bus. My mom was newly divorced, and we’d moved from Houston back to Michigan to be near family, to be supported through difficult times… FROM YOU I RECIEVE, I was a scholarship kid for many, many years. I went to camp two sessions a summer; this offered my mom a little respite from taking care of 3 kids. Camp gave me a place to belong when I didn’t necessarily think I belonged anywhere. I learned to be Jewish, I learned to be me, and I found a circle of lifelong friends. FROM YOU I RECEIVE…
TO YOU I GIVE… I feel grateful to have been able to provide my own daughters the opportunity of camp. To see them grow. To see them thrive. The same safe place camp was to me is also theirs. From generation to generation. TO YOU I GIVE…
TOGETHER WE SHARE… my family is 3 generations deep in the glory and power of Tamarack’s many missions. My service on the board has been just one way for me to share the foundation of the very place that built me up to have an impact within our community. That spirit of sharing, of giving, has resonated. There are so many ways we can share, so many ways we can give back. One of my daughters shared her spirit and lessons of giving by raising funds through her Mitzvah project for Send a Kid to Camp. From generation to generation. We learn, we teach, and we support others because of camp.
We all have our “WHY’S” FROM THIS WE LIVE… Each one of us has a story, a reason why camp is important. It’s all these “WHY’S” that have the potential to resonate with a supporter of camp. Maybe in a way you never imagined. FROM THIS WE LIVE…