Overview:
Weekend Programs

Our 2021 season offers a variety of weekend programs for families and individuals to unplug in Tawonga’s beautiful wilderness. Read on to learn about our Families at Camp programming, including our Keshet weekend for LGBTQ families, as well as two new weekends: Families of Color Weekend and Women’s Weekend!

Families at Camp Overview

Our new Families at Camp program allows families to take a vacation at Camp and enjoy all that Tawonga has to offer, like campfires, s’mores, a talent show, an outdoor Torah service, dips in the Tuolumne River and more!  We hope to be able to offer some childcare at the weekend for camp-aged children, but this will depend on county guidelines. Each family will have a private cabin and designated bathroom facility, and all meals will be served outside. Watch the video below to learn more!

Video About Families at Camp: What to Expect

Here are some key highlights of our “Families at Camp” program:

1. Meals
   Tawonga will serve delicious meals to families outside. Each family will have their own designated picnic table and the kitchen will provide one tray per family at each meal. We will do our absolute best to honor dietary restrictions and allergies (you’ll let us know what those are when you fill out your forms). We will not be offering buffets or communal meals in our dining hall for safety reasons.
2. Housing & Bathrooms
   Each family will have their own cabin and will be assigned to a bathroom.
3. Activities
   We will be offering all of our classic family camp activities including arts and crafts, challenge course, hiking, swimming, s’mores and more! We will celebrate shabbat as a community (socially distanced) and experience joyous Judaism in nature. Each family will have designated times to use each of our facilities, with appropriate separation from other families and staff.
4. Camp Tawonga Staff
   You can count on the same high quality, loving and wonderful staff that Tawonga employs each year. For safety reasons, the staff will remain socially distanced from all participants at all times. When staff are leading activities like arts and crafts and the challenge course, they will be masked as an extra precaution, and we will ask families to wear masks as well.
5. Childcare
   In order to adhere to state and county guidelines, we are not able to offer childcare at this point. If regulations change, and we hope they do, we will adjust. We’d love to be able to provide nighttime coverage for all families, and daytime coverage for school-aged kids from 9:30am-12:15pm and floats if we are permitted to do so. Safety will remain our highest priority.
6. Safety
   Safety remains our number one priority which is why we have made all of the above modifications to our traditional family camp program. We will have trusted medical staff on site as always.
7. Testing
   It is likely that Tawonga will require testing before attending a Families at Camp program. We will make a final determination over the summer and registered families will receive updated information in the months prior to the programs.

We will be offering these 4-day, 3-night programs in August, September and early October. Click here to see dates and rates.

Families at Camp 1: Keshet LGBTQ Family Weekend
August 19 – 22, 2021

For over 20 years, Tawonga’s Keshet LGBTQ Weekend has offered our classic Family Camp experience for LGBTQ families and allies. In 2021, we will be modifying this weekend in accordance with our COVID-19 policies and practices, above. Learn more about Keshet here.

NEW! Families of Color Weekend
September 9 – 12, 2021

Together with partners in the community, we are offering an affinity space just for families with at least one person of color in their household. In addition to being a space of celebration of multiracial Jewish community, cultural richness and connection, this program will have all the aspects of Tawonga’s Families at Camp program: opportunities to unplug, enjoy nature, celebrate shabbat and other classic camp activities, while remaining physically distant for safety reasons. Interested in being on the planning committee? Email ashley@tawonga.org.

New! Women’s Weekend
September 17 – 19, 2021

Unplug and immerse yourself in a community of supportive, amazing women – spanning the generations – for a deeply inspiring, joyful experience in Tawonga’s beautiful wilderness. Through morning yoga, hikes in Yosemite, expert-led workshops, a soulful Shabbat celebration and more, this women’s weekend will help you reflect and recharge. For anyone 21 and older and woman-identifying. This will be a kid-free weekend with exceptions made for breastfeeding infants. Learn more here and click here to register.

And check out our Family Camp Packing List before you go!

Work A Weekend Program

Do you have experience with kids? Are you available and interested in working weekend programs, like Families at Camp, for Tawonga? Please click here to be notified of upcoming opportunities.