Liberty Lake Day Camp Owner and Director Named New President of The American Camp Association, NY and NJ

Andy Pritikin, Owner, Director, and Founder of Liberty Lake Day Camp in Bordentown, NJ, and co-founder of Everwood Day Camp in Sharon, MA, has been named the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey’s next president.  Pritikin will succeed Scott Ralls, Owner and Director of Southwoods Camp, in April 2014. 

Pritikin has worked in the summer camp industry for 20 years and is involved in many aspects of the business. During most of those years, he served as treasurer of ACA, NY and NJ Board of Directors, Professional Development Chair, and Chairman of the Tri-State Camp Conference, the largest conference for camp professionals in the world.  Pritikin has been on numerous American Camp Association, NY and NJ committees including most recently the planning team of the Heal the Children program which provided camp scholarships to children of families greatly affected by last year’s Hurricane Sandy.  Pritikin is also known in the industry for facilitating cutting edge workshops for both regional and national summer camp conferences.   He is an active supporter of Morry's Camp and SCOPE, two non-profit organizations which raise money to send inner-city youths to camp each summer, and recently created the Liberty Lake Foundation to do the same for children in the Bordentown, NJ area.  Pritikin also does consulting for the Foundation of Jewish Camps and is the Founder and President of the New Jersey Camps Government Affairs Project, an organization created to protect the interests of all New Jersey summer camps. Pritikin is a Board Member of the Northern Burlington Regional Chamber of Commerce and is active with the Crafts Creek/Spring Hill Brook Watershed Association. Pritikin has been honored with numerous camping awards including the 2008 National Service Award and the New Jersey Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named Pritikin “2013 Man of the Year” for helping to raise $250,000 for blood cancer research. Pritikin’s son is currently in remission for ALL-Leukemia, after being diagnosed in March 2012.

“Andy Pritikin is well respected in the camp industry and has dedicated his career to youth development,” says Scott Ralls.   “He is the right person to further the ACA, NY and NJ mission of enhancing the summer camp experience for children and educating camp owners and directors on program quality and important aspects of camp operation.”

Pritikin commented, "For over a century, summer camp has been a magical environment for children to learn the skills that will make them into successful adults — independence, resiliency, integrity, teamwork, and the skills of making and keeping friends. I am humbled to be able to serve my colleagues, and represent an industry which I feel so passionately about."

For further information, please contact Jess Michaels at the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey 212.391.5208.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN CAMP ASSOCIATION, NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

The American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey (ACA, NY and NJ) is a not for profit organization made up of camp professionals dedicated to preserving, promoting and enhancing the quality of the summer camp experience.  Because of camp, children and adults have the opportunity to learn important lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy life lessons that can’t be learned anywhere else.  For more information about the American Camp Association, NY and NJ, visit www.aca-nynj.org