Borough President Vito Fossella Allocates $45K To Sunrise Day Camp For Transportation Costs

Borough President Vito Fossella announced an allocation of $45,000 to the Lucille & Jay Chazanoff Sunrise Day Camp to fund transportation for campers and their siblings.

Sunrise Day Camp is the world’s first full-summer day camp provided free-of-charge for children with cancer and their siblings. The camp is administered by the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center of Staten Island and is the only day camp of its kind in New York City. Located on the grounds of Staten Island Academy, the camp serves over 150 children each year with sports, music, arts & crafts, swimming, and other activities.

“There is something very special and very precious that occurs on this campus every summer for about six-and-a-half weeks,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference on the last day of camp. “For these young children with cancer, it gives them not only the ability to be independent, but it gives their parents an opportunity to have a level of comfort that perhaps, things are going to be OK. The staff and the counselors give these kids a ray of light and a ray of hope into their day."

Lee Guttenplan, the JCC’s chief operating officer, said "joy is the simplest form of gratitude," noting the joy on the faces of the campers and a sense of relief on the faces of their parents.

“We get to see the impact of this funding everyday as children come off the bus with big smiles ready for a day of safe, fun and exciting activities to share with their friends,” he said.