Camp Paw Aims to Expand Enrollment, Planning Fund-Raiser

Camp Paw, a summer reading program for at-risk students in Berkeley’s schools, needs $8,000 to expand its enrollment this summer.

James J. Byrnes, president of the Berkeley Township Board of Education, told the school board at Thursday night’s meeting that the program currently has $30,000, which is enough to support 50 students this year.

School officials want to expand to 65 students, which requires an additional $8,000, money that the Paw Family Group, the organization that supports the program, hopes to raise at a fund-raiser on March 23.

Jeffrey Zito, principal of H&M Potter School who is one of the program’s directors, said the , a 20-day program for students from second through fifth grades who are identified as at risk, either socially or academically, had 54 students last summer.

Expanding brings increased costs, including staffing and the need for a second bus to transport students from Berkeley to Georgian Court University in Lakewood, where the program is held.

Georgian Court provides facilities, including pool time. Although it has donated the use of those facilities in past years, Zito said this year the university informed him that there will be a fee for the use.

“They haven’t given an exact figure,” Zito said. “But they said it will be a minimal cost.”

Schools Superintendent Joseph H. Vicari said the district looked at other facilities for the program, but none had the combination that Georgian Court offers, which is why they are choosing to keep the program there.

The fund-raiser is a gift basket auction, set for 6 p.m. at Potter on March 23, Zito said. The program also is accepting donations; contact Zito at Potter for more information.