Funding is result of McDonald’s lawsuit
In April, the national JCC Association notified the Dayton Jewish Community Center that its summer camp was awarded a $5,000 grant to provide campers with hot, kosher meals.

The lunches will be provided five days a week at Hillel Academy, the DJCC’s camp site; lunches are included in camp fees at no extra charge.

The unlikely source of the money was the McDonald’s Corporation.

Three years ago, an Illinois court ordered the fast food giant to distribute $10 million among several plaintiffs after it was found that its french fries and hash browns — advertised as vegetarian — contained beef flavoring.

In May 2003, the Cook County circuit court ordered McDonald’s to give $1 million of that money toward education about kashrut. JCCA received $200,000 to develop curricula about kosher food laws and practices.

The result is Keeping it Cool, Keeping it Kosher, a component of JCCA’s  TAG initiative, which teaches Jewish values through JCC camping.

According to DJCC Camp Director Rachel Firkins, without the grant, there would be no camp lunch program this summer.

“Kashrut is a concept that should be taught to our children, whether individuals keep it or not,” she said.

In addition to teaching the basics about keeping kosher, Firkins will also promote the idea of “ecokosher.”

“This is the concept of not only keeping kosher in your body, but how to keep kosher in how you conduct yourself in the world, how you go about getting food, the importance of growing cycles and organic food, and how to deal with the environment,” she said.

For information about the camp, call Firkins at 853-0372.