Parents Testimonials

Dear Alex,
We are writing to thank you so much for providing such a wonderful summer camp experience for our son. Avishai had a fantastic time at Camp Dora Golding. He enjoyed everything about camp – the sports, the learning, the trips, the different activities, even the food!

Special Thanks to his wonderful counselor and JC and especially to his Rebbe. I don’t know if Avishai would have had as great a time without such amazing leaders that you selected for his bunk and learning program. Thank you as well for training and selecting such outstanding individuals to watch over him, teach him, and provide him with such an excellent camp experience.

When we visited Avishai on Visiting Day, we were particularly impressed with how beautiful the camp grounds and facilities are. It is very obvious how much effort and time must go into renewing and maintaining the camp.

Thank you again for giving Avishai such a fabulous summer. I have been recommending CDG to all my friends here in Toronto!

With much Gratitude,

Sam and Elisheva Lightstone
Toronto , Canada

Dear Uncle Alex,
Thank you so much for an absolutely wonderful and unforgettable Shabbos. We were able to get a taste of the CDG experience that our boys keep raving about! The food was delicious, the staff we met and spoke to were amazing – even the rainy weather couldn’t damper anyone’s spirits around here. We will look back on our weekend here with fond memories for a long time to come.

Thanks again for everything.

Yossie & Aviva Weintraub
Passaic, NJ

Dear Alex,
I’d like to share with you the first letter that I received from my son Sender from camp. It read as follows:

Dear Mommy,
Camp Dora Golding is the best camp in the world. I made friends. I take showers, make my bed, clean the bunk house and fold my clothing. The sports are great and I am having a Melava Malka. If you don’t know my bunk it is Yud ches.
I hope to come back next year. Send regards to the whole family.

I miss you Mommy.

Love,
Sender

Alex, what a beautiful heartwarming letter for a mother to receive. Thank you for making my son’s first experience in camp the absolute best. With sincere appreciation and thanks.

Rachel Pattashnick
Brooklyn, NY

Dear Alex,
I’ve been meaning to write this e-mail for a while and apologize that it took so long. I just wanted to thank you for everything and for making Yehuda’s (and his friends) camp experience really enjoyable. They all had a great time and it is no doubt attributable to the personal attention you gave when selecting their counselors and rebbeim and addressing our issues.

Wishing you a K’siva V‘chasima Tova.

Bruce Tager
Bergenfield, NJ

Hi Alex,
Josh came home and told me you asked him to keep in touch. I just wanted to thank you for helping out so much before and during his time at camp. He had an amazing summer and is already talking about going back next year. This really was a dream come true for all of us. The staff was amazing with Josh. From day one I knew he’d be fine.
So I’m sure Josh will email you himself but I just wanted to touch base myself and thank you again.

Vanessa and Steven Kratka
North Woodmere, NY

I just wanted to thank everyone for a wonderful summer. Yehudah had a great time in camp. He has not stopped talking about it since he got home. He can’t wait till next summer.

Shaindy Pinsker
Hillside, NJ

Dear Alex Gold / Binyamin Daiches,
Let me thank you for an awesome summer experience for our son, Aaron Greenwald. Aaron was looking forward to spending the second month at Dora Golding for a long time now. He rated his month at CDG with “a 10 on a scale of 1 to 5″. He loved all the activities – the sports, the night activities, the counselors and staff, the learning, the all-around ruach of CDG. He was practicing the CDG theme song since we registered him in the winter.
Aaron had the good fortune of winning the Mets tickets with his winning “Shteigo” card and we are sitting with awesome tickets for Thursday night’s game (9/10). Thanks so much – Aaron and his father are really looking forward.

Kerrie Greenwald
Kew Garden Hills NY

Dear Mendy Bauman (President),
Thank You so much for giving Yehuda the summer of his “DREAMS”!! He wrote one line to us (not even a letter). He had NO time. He said EVEN the day he threw up was one of the best days of his life. Words can’t express my gratitude. That Camp is “BOY HEAVEN”. Im Yirtza Hashem the Twins will be going there in 8 years. All the best for a fantastic New Year.

Ellen Blonder
Woodmere NY

Alex,
I wanted to thank you and everyone at the camp for making Naftali’s first experience putting on tefillin such a nice one. We felt so welcome and the heimishe atmosphere was very evident. (My daughter wants to go to Camp Dina now!) We really appreciate everything that was done yesterday — and every summer for our boys.

All the best.

Naomi & Tzvi Grossman
Sharon, MA

Dear Alex,
Thanks for enhancing my son’s experience away from home. It was so relieving when my son knew the names of all the head counselors, division heads and yours personally. To me that spells tender loving care. After reviewing my sons experience of the care he received not only from the chiefs but as well from his counselors, I definitely see a consistent pattern of genuine care. His counselor was so kind and a real angel. Needless to say Mikey had somehow lost his bottle of shampoo and soap, thanks to his counselor lending him from his own supply, Mikey was able to take a shower. The standard of responsibility is seen across the board, and this is a great accomplishment for Camp Dora Golding. Thanks for adding Mikey to the CDG family.

Thanking you again,
“yashar coach”

Hannah Boyer
North Miami Beach, FL

Dear Alex,
Kudo’s to you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The kids had a great time this summer. Aryeh came back with recipes from Chef Yo and you guessed it this morning I got up and ran to the bakery for onion rolls and made him Sunny Side Up Eggs. He also met new friends and even relatives— he had never met from Texas!

Rebecca had an equally good time at Camp Dina and came home with stories of new friends she met.

Thank you very much. You are doing a wonderful job and you should know the Camp truly has a Shem Tov because of all the hard work you put into the camp and our children. You are truly an asset to this community.

Thank you, all the best.

Gitelle Steinfeld
Woodmere, NY

Dear Alex,
Thank you so much for allowing us to come up yesterday to visit Mikey. I just have to inform you that you have the most friendliest, warmest and wonderful staff. Their care and concern for Mikey is above and beyond the norm. Thanx for another great summer. Hatzlacha Rabba and keep up the great work.

Naomi and Mark Gross
Lawrence, NY

Dear Alex,
Thank you once again for a fabulous summer. Avi and Tzvi had such a great time and I wanted to thank you for all your hard work. I will send in an application soon for next summer. Thank you and I wish you and your family a happy and healthy new year.

Debbie Korman
Lawrence, NY

Dear Camp Dora Golding Staff:
I wanted to let you know, how thankful we are, the Gellers of Tarzana, for giving Avi the opportunity for the summer experience at Camp Dora Golding. He had a real BLAST!!! He told us about everything he did, he saw, he experienced, he liked, he learned and he ate. I understand the food was delicious, the counselor were wonderful, compassionate and nice, the sports were great, the learning was stellar, the trips were fun, the swimming and diving were extraordinary, the thunderstorms were cool, the campers were tons of fun, the camp was pretty, and the lake was awesome…real live toads and fish.

All the telephone calls I made were returned in a timely fashion and all the concerns were dealt with in a prompt manner. The camp mother was great. She kept me apprised of all issues of concern. And, she’s so friendly too.

We want to take this opportunity to give you a big yasher koach for all that you do. He is already bugging me to register him for next year.

Thanks for everything.

The Gellers
Tarzana, California

Dear Alex Gold,
What would you call a great day? Would it be holding a winning lotto ticket? Would it be a nice summer day when it doesn’t rain on a Shabbos when you are walking to shul? Would it be seeing the Yankees win the world series again?
Well for me, it was last Sunday when i saw my son Yoni Sperber greet me with such a great smile on visiting day!!! As the day went on Yoni only had wonderful things to tell me about the counselors, rebbies, FOOD and great activities. He loves the “Ruach” you provide with your wonderful staff and caring personnel. The bunks were clean and inviting too. (A major task for a mother of three boys such as I) How do you do it??? Whatever the secret may be, I want to stop and thank you for a “GREAT DAY”. I am so glad we have chosen Camp Dora Golding for our son. Thank you and Good Shabbos to you and your staff. Have a Great Day!

Orit Sperber
Flushing, NY

To Alex:
Just a short note of thanks. I enjoyed visiting day very much. I am impressed with the atmosphere at CDG. Good Midos seems to be the central theme and that is so great.

Rena Gordon
Far Rockaway, NY

Dear Mr. Gold,
My letter is to tell you how much we appreciate all the work that you and your wonderful staff do for our children every day and night.

We came to visit our son Avi in bunk 25, yesterday. He is having the time of his life. Sending him to CDG was one of the best decisions we have made for him. But what really impressed me yesterday was with my son Tzvi Yoseph. In the dining room he saw Rabbi Idstein who happened to have been talking with someone at the time. He went over and was greeted with a big smile and wide open arms. My son was only in camp for 2 weeks yet he still was treated wonderfully. It made me feel so good to see that he wasn’t just given a simple wave and a how ya doin, he made my son feel special. He didn’t have to, but it seemed to be his nature.

Yasher Koach to you and your staff, and much hatzlocha for the rest of the summer.

Brenda Weiss
Staten Island, NY

Alex:
As parents of first-time camper Yoel Belitz, there was no greater joy than to relish in his obvious excitement and contentment yesterday. He is having a fantastic time @ CDG, and is alrerady talking about going for the full summer next year. Keep up the great work on staffing, activity planning and coordination on campus.

Ardra Belitz
Suffern, NY

Dear Alex,
I wanted to drop you a note thanking you for your extremely generous gesture towards Benjamin the last week in camp. I thank you not only for inviting him to spend that last week with you, but also for the ability you and your staff have of making him feel special and wanted among so many other campers. I am sure that part of your success has to do with being able to make most if not all the kids at camp feel like they are the special ones among so many. In just one week Ben felt close to his counselors (another credit to your staff).
Every parent wants to know and feel that someone else can feel about their child as they do. You have made my husband and I feel that you do. This is very much appreciated.

Helen Fuchs
Woodmere, NY

With so much thanks and gratitude, I, Mrs. Kabasso would like to extend from my heart for a wonderful second month at camp. For Moshe’s first experience and as well as mine, it is beyond words to say how memorable and special the summer was. Everything possible was offered to my son Moshe. I am extremely proud and honored to have sent him to Camp Dora Golding! G-d willing he will continue to return next summer!
Thanks so much for everything you have done for my family. Please send me your application for next summer.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kabasso
Brooklyn, NY

Dear Alex,
First, I just wanted to let you know that Dovid seems to have been having a really terrific time. I want to give you a tremendous yasher koach on your efforts on the camp this summer. The staff seems extremely organized. I also want to commend Dovid’s counselor. He is a tremendous mentch, extremely organized, gets the kids involved and doing the sports and swimming that they should be doing, and I am sure that he is a large part of why Dovid is having such a good time. Please relay our appreciation and commendation to him.
Thanks again for a really great summer.

PS – Just so you know, my older son Uri was so impressed with how much fun Dovid is having, and the fact that you came over to him on visiting day at lunch, and the totally revamped bunks, that he is now planning on coming back next summer.

Dov Kesselman
West Hempstead, NY

Dear Alex,
I want to thank you all- everyone at the camp- for making this an exciting and wholesome summer for Dovie. He had a wonderful time and considering that this was literally his first experience away from home – it was amazing. The counselors, the Rebbe, the waiters, the water staff – all are to be commended for their patience, their midos and their ability to make young boys happy.

Shelly Brand
Staten Island, NY

Dear Alex,
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and commend you for an incredible summer at Camp Dora Golding. Yosef and Binyamin had an amazing month filled with ruach, learning and excitement. As their first camp experience, they came home telling us about all of the great times at CDG including counselors, canteen, staff games, cocoa club and of couse…Alex.
We would appreciate if you could let us know the dates for camp next year as we would like to plan our trip to America accordingly. As we have started settling into our new home in Israel, we just wanted you to know that we were thinking about you and CDG. If you are in Israel during the year, come by and visit!

Kol Tuv!

Gary and Suzanne Wallin
Israel

Dear Alex,
I want to commend you and your staff. My son raves about the Yaalozu Mountaineering Program. Before it came into existence, he had no desire to spend his summers at camp and now, he cannot wait. He gets more exercise in his months with you than all year at Yeshiva and enjoys it more. Yasher Koach! Please keep up the good work.

Tzvi Wodinsky
Cedarhurst, NY

I just wanted to share with you how wonderful my son’s summer at CDG was. He went for the second month only and I was sort of concerned as this was his first time and he would be there for the 9 days and Tisha B’Av, but I was so pleasantly surprised. David truly thrived over the summer (even with his loss of socks and clothing)–he made new friends but most importantly found a strength inside himself that perhaps he never realized he had. It wasn’t easy being the new kid on the block in his bunk but he found the tricks to the trade rather quickly (like his favorite short cut through the woods). Again, thanks for a wonderful summer and David has already asked to go back for the entire summer.

Anat Levi
Woodmere, NY

I want to tell you how much we appreciated your wonderful Torah teaching to our grandchild Yoni Teeter. He has been with us for the past 9 days, and has been quoting and quoting the inspiring learning that he has received from you. Being a teacher myself, I know we can never be sure of the depth of learning, impression, or inspiration we achieve — at the minimum we hope we can plant a seed that will blossom with time and study. Well, you have achieved all of the above with at least one of your students. We want to thank you personally for the great “Nachus” you have given to us through the inspiring torah learning you have given to our grandchild. May you go from success to success as you continue to bring Torah to our children and to others through your outstanding talent as a teacher.

Jerry and Goldye Kopmar
West Hempstead, NY

Dear Alex,
Effy had about a year to train for his Bar Mitzvah, and his hard work paid off nicely. I can confidently say this is one Bar Mitzvah I will never forget. It was an AMAZING Bar Mitzvah at Camp Dora Golding. My wife and I had an absolutely wonderful time. You have a beautiful camp with great facilities. As you may know prior to every camp season I work in camps training “pool” lifeguards to become comfortable in open water rescue techniques , but attending Effys Bar Mitzvah I got to go back to camp and TRULY enjoy camp. I got to go back to camp with my entire family, most of whom are “camp people”. I got the opportunity to meet and talk with Rav Goldwasser and Rabbi Yaffe. I even got to meet and talk with you, the person whom I send tzedakah to plus I got to see where my money was being spent. I had an incredibly, surprisingly successful, weekend that I never could have expected. I want to thank you for hosting Effys Bar Mitzvah at Camp Dora Golding and tell you what a pleasure it was to stay at your camp.

Wishing you and your entire family a year filled with happiness, good fortune and good health.

Zev Adler
Cedarhurst, NY

Mr. Alex Gold
Camp Dora Golding
I just wanted to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you and your staff in the way they handled the medical situation with my son.

As you are aware my son took ill last week. From the time he was initially diagnosed the communication between your staff and my wife was excellent. When there was additional concern later that night, and it was determined that he should be sent to the hospital, I saw how professional your staff can act. We initially received the call at 12:30 AM from the camp nurse. As a parent, when a child is away from home and there is a medical situation, there is greater concern. As we were heading to the hospital in the Poconos in the early morning hours, your staff made numerous phone calls to reassure us of the situation. The guest house was prepared for our arrival. Your “hospital escort” stayed with my son in the hospital all night so he wouldn’t be in a strange environment alone.

All in all, my wife and I felt that the well-being of our son was the camps top priority. Baruch Hashem, my son was released that morning, and has now recuperated.

The true test of any establishment is how they are prepared and handle emergency situations. You should be proud of the professional staff you have, and how they reflect on you and your camp.

Dov and Gittel Nierman
Flushing, NY

Dear Alex,

Here’s just a short note to tell you how great,
Eli’s summer has been, your camp is top rate!
Since this was his first time away on his own,
We were quite nervous, him being alone.
But your staff was so warm, there was no need to worry,
They took great care of him, to come home- he was in no hurry.
With overgrown hair and skin darkly tanned,
Our sweet little Eli became quite a young man.
Although 1/3 of his clothes were lost there in camp,
It’s got to beat the 2/3 that were moldy and damp!
It’s part of the experience, we keep telling ourselves,
As we shop once again to refill his shelves.
We are counting the days till Camp Dora Golding starts again,
Save Eli a spot for next summer Im Yirtzei Hashem!!

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy year!

Ronnie and Devorah Borochov

Cedarhurst, NY

Alex, I wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you did in running the camp. My boys came home so happy and they had a fantastic time. I appreciate you working with me earlier in the year when we switched Zachary out of the camp he attended last year, along with a few of his friends. In the end, all the boys had a blast and ended up staying all summer. Thanks again and please let me know when I can sign Zak and Jordan up for next summer. It is a certainty that they will be there again (Please G-D). If we don’t talk, have a shana tovah umetukah!!.

Simmie Chiger
West Hempstead, NY