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Jordan River Village is a camp serving children from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the Middle East with serious and life-threatening diseases at no cost to their families. Its goal is "to enrich the lives of Jewish and Arab children, in Israel and in the neighboring countries, suffering from serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions by creating free, fun-filled, memorable, empowering, medically sound and safe camping experiences".
History
The Jordan River Village Association was founded in 2000 in Israel by Marilyn and Murray Grant. Jordan River Village began operations in August 2011 in the Lower Galilee. The village is part of SeriousFun Network, formerly the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, an international network of camps based on the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, founded in 1988 in Connecticut by Paul Newman. Newman played Ari Ben Canaan in the 1960 film Exodus, filmed in the same region of Israel as the camp is located.
The village covers an area of 25.4 hectares (63 acres), and includes dormitories for guests and staff, a swimming pool, sports facilities, a gymnasium, a theater, a library, an art and crafts center, a camping area, an extreme sports venue, as well as a construction management center and a training and medical center.
The Israeli government helped establish and maintains the village, contributing up to 20% of its budget. Chaim Topol serves as chairman of the board.