Sababa Beach Camp provides special summer experience for Ukrainian child refugees
As it does every summer, Commonpoint created an unforgettable camp experience for seven Ukrainian refugee children, who were awarded scholarships to attend Sababa Day Camp this summer. Sababa’s Day Camp is a week-long program in Rockaway Beach for 3rd to 12th graders, who in addition to participating in surf lessons, enjoy daily meditation, breathing exercises and opportunities to connect with the ocean and the world around them. This year, in partnership with the Commonpoint Resilience Program, Sababa reserved additional slots for Ukrainian children and families involved in the Commonpoint Resettlement and Integration program – for whom this kind of recreation would have been out of reach and an a once in a lifetime experience.
Sababa boasts both a sleepaway camp in Virginia Beach and a day camp in New York, with the latter filling the late summer stretch with structure, exciting programming and an opportunity for children to refresh and refocus before the start of the school year. The program has been operating for a little over a decade now, and began collaborating with the Resilience Program three years ago by connecting a child from the Ukraine who had just arrived in America with a scholarship to the Virginia Beach program. The Resilience Program’s Russian speaking and Ukrainian staff helped expedite the camper’s application so that he could enjoy the summer amongst peers. Under the nurturing guidance of the Sababa team he quickly flourished, rapidly picking up on English and gaining camaraderie with fellow campers.
Commonpoint’s Resilience Program serves diverse demographics with an emphasis on delivering hope-engendering experiences for clients.The Resilience Program helps individuals identify and apply tools for self-sufficiency and achievement. It is entrusted as a resource for curating cross-departmental initiatives geared towards crisis management and client success.
With such wonderful experiences in the past, and Commonpoint’s Resettlement team identifying a need for these families at the end of the summer, the Resilience Program was delighted to support this important and enriching opportunity.
“Sababa” is a colloquial Hebrew term meaning calm, cool, and at ease. I experienced its ethos one summer’s day at Surf Camp the week before Labor Day. When I arrived for the camp’s afternoon session, campers and instructors stood fanned in a circle on the beach. Danny began a mindfulness exercise in which deep, diaphragmatic breathing gave space for campers to check in with themselves before we hit the waves. The exercise was imbued with spirituality, including a quote from a topical parsha. After the practice, campers were asked to rate themselves on the “Sababa” scale, a scale invented by Danny to measure how calm, collected, and in the moment one is, gauged like a vital sign. Grounded by the sea, campers expressed that they felt present and excited. We then moved onto a guided land lesson where we practiced the moves we’d soon attempt in the ocean. Students were instructed in how to properly slide onto the longboard, paddle, and finally, take the leap of faith as you push off on the wavecrest and gain footing.
The instructors generously lent me a spot on the longboard “circuit line”. Once we entered the water, surfers were passed between 3 instructors, each one placed farther out in the water, as we steadily made our way out to the curling waves. A final “Push up!” propels you ahead of the oncoming waves and finds you gliding over the water. With each round I found my agility and focus quickly improve. Campers did too as they advanced from instant wipeouts to cruising all the way to the shore.The environment was one of mutual support and celebration with campers cheering each other on in their shared success.
Sababa Surf Camp was pivotal in creating a supportive environment for children who had suffered traumas and would have otherwise lacked the means to find a space for growth and joy. I was told that these children in particular would have likely spent their summers homebound in an apartment. It is a testament to Commonpoint’s ability to navigate its diffuse resources and inventively apply its funds that this initiative proved such a joyous success in the lives of these children.
With an emphasis on inclusive Jewish spirituality, Sababa provides unforgettable formative experiences and exploration for children and teens in grades 3-12.
To learn more about programs for Summer 2026, please visit sabababeachaway.org or call us at 516.499.5349
