Updates from Board Chair Matthew Denenberg, April 2023

Updates from Board Chair Matthew Denenberg, April 2023

Matthew Denenberg, Chair of the Board of Directors for North Star Reach (NSR), a camp that provides life-changing, year-round programming for children with serious health challenges and their families, has announced the addition of four new members of the Board of Directors.

Joining the NSR Board in the month of April are:

• J.J. Lewis, Chief Development Officer for United Way of the Lakeshore
• Sheri Mark, RN, JD Community Advisor
• Anna Maiuri, JD (Retired – Dickinson Wright)
• Edward “Skip” Walton, MD, Director of the Medical Informatics Unit, Office of Academic Affiliations, US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Denenberg expressed his appreciation saying, “J.J., Anna, Sheri, and Skip have signed on to help ensure North Star Reach will continue serving so many in the Great Lakes region and our campfire will continue to burn brightly for years to come. They are a brilliant team of civic leaders already demonstrating the power of great governance and will surely benefit this new stage of our camp life cycle.”

In addition, David Leckey will serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer taking over the camp leadership role from Executive Director Mitch Rosenwasser. “David is an experienced change leader with a history of success in the business, government, and nonprofit sectors,” Denenberg said. “He and the board are already engaged in strengthening our governance, reshaping our operating model, and stewarding our generous donors. We intend for North Star Reach to be here long into the future for the children and families of Michigan and the Great Lakes region.”

We offer thanks to Rosenwasser for his dedication and direction. “Mitch has been a committed and meticulous leader for North Star Reach. He is a career camp professional with deep family ties to camping, he knows this field inside out. He led us through challenging times, including the decision to pause camp in 2023.”

We announced in September 2022 that camp paused its programming for 2023 to set a foundation for sustainable impact and growth. North Star Reach invites anyone who wants to positively impact the lives of kids living with serious illnesses to help “Keep the Campfires Burning” at https://www.northstarreach.org/support/annual-fund/.

North Star Reach is a part of SeriousFun Children’s Network, a network of 30 camps and programs serving kids with serious illnesses and their families, free of charge. North Star Reach campers, families, and volunteers seeking a camp experience this summer are encouraged to explore opportunities with Flying Horse Farms, the SeriousFun camp in Ohio, or other SeriousFun camps (https://seriousfun.org/camps-and-programs/find-a-camp/), while we prepare to welcome campers back in 2024.

As adults, over 80% of SeriousFun alumni surveyed reported that the SeriousFun experience contributed to lasting outcomes in their lives including the willingness to try new things, appreciation for diversity, self-identity, empathy and compassion, self-confidence, perseverance, and friendship skills. Two-thirds of alumni surveyed reported health-related outcomes as positively influenced by their participation in a SeriousFun camp.

Since the camp opened in 2016, North Star Reach has served 5,000 kids and their families. In 2019, before Covid-19, NSR served more than 1,400 children.

For questions, please contact David Leckey at david@northstarreach.org.