H EADLINES
Kef Continued from Page 1
for the fi ve missed camp days
will get a refund.

Th e CEO believes that,
by deciding July 24 to cancel
camp for the upcoming week,
his team stopped the spread at
12 cases. He also thinks that
Camp Kef is set to fi nish the
summer strong.

Kef’s expansive JCC facility
and outdoor space should
allow for appropriate social
distancing. On top of that,
100% of staff ers who interact
with campers are vaccinated,
according to Scher.

All other Kaiserman activ-
ities, like adult basketball
and the pool, are still open,
just with enhanced masking
protocols. “We fi gured out every-
thing,” Scher said.

The CEO credited the
Montgomery County Health
Department for guiding his team.

Th roughout the weekend of July
24, the JCC and Montgomery
County teams worked together
on contact tracing, communi-
cation with parents, enhanced
protocols and a plan for the rest
of the summer.

According to Kel ly
Cofrancisco, the communica-
tions director for Montgomery
County, Camp Kef’s outbreak
was not severe by pandemic
standards. Cofrancisco called it
“a very typical kind of outbreak
that our offi ce of public health
has been dealing with for the
entirety of the pandemic.”
She also said the county
usually recommends shutting
down for a week, completing
contact tracing and then
reopening with enhanced
safety protocols. So, that’s what
county offi cials told the JCC
to do.

County officials trust
the Kaiserman JCC to
reopen because Camp Kef ’s
pre-summer plan, submitted
to the health department for
approval, was fully compliant,
Cofrancisco said.

“We’re confident that
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Camp Kef has ample outdoor space to keep campers and counselors
at a social distance, according to Kaiserman JCC CEO Alan Scher.

Photo by Matt Martin
working together we can
suppress any potential for a
larger outbreak,” she said.

At the same time, with the
delta variant in the air, the
enhanced safety standards and
the potential for another small
outbreak are probably not
going anywhere. Montgomery
County’s seven-day average
rose by 13 daily COVID cases
in late July.

Its positivity rate ticked up
from 1.28 to 2.13, though it
would require a 5% clip for
the CDC to consider trans-
mission “high,” according to
Cofrancisco. Unless the trans-
mission rate reaches that level,
the county will not recommend
that institutions, organiza-
tions and businesses enforce a
general mask mandate.

As of now, that is still a
choice. “We’ve seen slight upticks
but we’re not at the point yet
where we’ve changed our
guidance,” Cofrancisco said.

Peter Gaskill, a Bala Cynwyd
resident and the parent of two
Kef campers, believes the JCC
is doing a good job because it’s
listening to the county.

“If you ask me what consti-
tutes careful thought about
something, respond to the facts
as they are, not as what you
want them to be,” Gaskill said.

Th e father appreciated that
camp offi cials told parents
about each case. He said the
transparency helped parents
understand if their kids were
exposed and if they were
capable of spreading the virus
to adults.

“They are voluntarily
making less money and taking
a whole lot of slings and arrows
from the community to stand
up for our kids’ health,” Gaskill
added of the JCC.

Finally, the father pointed
to the JCC’s handling of the
pandemic situation over the
past year as a reason to trust
it for the rest of the summer.

Kaiserman reopened for camp
last summer and had no cases
until this outbreak.

“Th ey’ve been extremely
careful,” he concluded.

Gaskill and his wife,
Aviva, both work from home
and were inconvenienced by
their kids staying home, but
nothing more.

And while they are not
crazy about sending their sons,
5 and 8, respectively, back to
camp with restrictions — like
wearing masks in the heat —
they still believe it’s better for
them than staying home.

During the lockdown in
the spring of 2020, the boys
eventually started fighting
because they were restless.

“Th ey need to socialize,”
Gaskill said.

Scher’s 7-year-old daughter
will return for the fi nal weeks
of camp as well.

During the open week, the
Mt. Airy resident took her to
get a COVID test at a CVS fi ve
minutes from their home. It
was negative.

“It couldn’t have been
easier,” he said. ●
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