That's the encouraging news from a number of Midwest Jewish camp directors, who say that between national programs, synagogues, the camps themselves and other sources, hard-pressed parents should be able to put together a patchwork quilt of funding sources that will allow their children to attend the Jewish camp of their choice.

Why is it so important? Jewish communal professionals cite research that shows that Jewish camping experiences are crucial in forging Jewish identities. Jewish camp alumni are 50 percent more likely to join a synagogue, 90 percent more likely to join a Jewish community center and twice as likely to donate money to a local Jewish charity than Jewish adults who never went to a Jewish camp, a study has shown.

First line of defense for scholarships falls to the Campership Program of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, a national organization dedicated to non-profit Jewish resident camps. In Chicago, an anonymous donor has developed a program to help first- and second-year campers. First-year campers attending a session of 19 days or more can receive $1,000; second-year campers receive $750.

Last year, more than 900 Chicago-area youngsters benefited from the program, according to Rabbi David Soloff, executive director of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, who calls the program "a treasure for the Jewish community." (Visit onehappycamper.org for more information.)

In addition, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has several programs that help families send their children to camp.

Beyond the Campership program, Soloff says, applicants to Ramah in Wisconsin may be eligible for scholarships through their synagogue and through the camp itself.

"Each of the United Synagogue (Conservative) congregations has a Ramah camp scholarship program, and the camp itself has a scholarship program to support kids participating," he says.

The programs include both need-based grants and a "coupon" system redeemable for camp funds by families who have sent their children to Jewish preschools, day schools or Hebrew schools.

"Every effort is made to enable parents to send kids to camp," Soloff says. "We have been very successful in working in a partnership with families, sponsoring congregations and friends of the camp. Over 40 percent of our campers receive scholarship support from these multiple sources."

Shelley Goldwater, executive director of Habonim-Dror Camp Tavor, says, "We are very conscious of what is going on in the economy.

"We give scholarships," she says. "Besides (the) Campership (program), if someone were to need help, we would give a scholarship. Last summer, we gave out twice as much scholarship money as the summer before. We are planning to be able to do that again."

She says Chicago is "a very generous community. Between the Jewish federation and the Campership program, synagogues and the camp itself, the goal is to get Jewish kids to go to camp."

Susan Alexander, associate director of Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, says the camp advises parents to apply to programs such as Campership and the federation and to talk to their own rabbi.

"Then we send them a form we created. Our form is needs-based, but we don't ask for tax forms. The only information we want is what their salary was the year before and their projected salary for this year. We also ask them to write something about why they need" the scholarship, she says.

"We know things come up in this economy, people lose jobs and so forth," she says. After a parent has filled out a form, Alexander meets with members of the camp board and a rabbi from the community and they go over each form - with the names removed, so no one knows who the families are.

"We try extremely hard not to let a child not come to camp" because of financial constraints, she says. "It's extremely rare that we have to turn a child away. We'll go back to the rabbi and say, they still need $800, could you split it or come up with a few more dollars?"

The goal, she says, is to "make it a little easier with all the other things going on out there. We want our campers to know they can always come to us if they need to. The rabbis are very helpful and generous."

Ron Levin, director of the Jewish Community Center of Chicago's Camp Chi, is also enthusiastic about the Campership program, which he says encourages families to send their children to Jewish rather than private camps by giving funds for them to do just that.

In addition, he says, "people can apply to Camp Chi and request financial assistance. We then go through a process to try to grant financial help. All people have to do is call our office" or, when they submit an application form, send in a deposit of $150 instead of the usual $500. "That triggers a request for a scholarship," Levin says.

"We are doing our best to help people, and we are helping people," he says. "Every camp is trying their best to help make camp real for kids."

In the case of Camp Chi, the Women's Auxiliary of the JCC helps to raise money, as does a group of camp alumni through a program called Send A Kid to Camp.

"We believe going to Jewish overnight camp is very critical," Levin says, "and we're all helping the best we can to make it happen."