The Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation
In 2020, The Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation (RGKF) became a fund affiliated with the Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ). This partnership helps us to sustain our work into the future while maintaining our existing mission — making the dream of summer camp a reality for children with kidney disorders. We benefit from CFNJ’s philanthropic expertise, administrative support, and technical knowledge to ensure your contribution has the greatest positive impact for children and their families.
Located at the Frost Valley YMCA in the Catskills, our program is the only sleep-away camp that mainstreams children with kidney disease with healthy campers. The Ruth Gottscho Dialysis Center on site is staffed by Children’s Hospital at Montefiore’s Pediatric Nephrology Department.
Our History
Ruth Gottscho was 15 years old when she died of kidney disease in 1960 — years before dialysis was widely available. That same year, her parents founded the RGKF to help other kidney patients in New Jersey. For several years, our foundation purchased home dialysis machines for families who could not afford this life-saving equipment. When Medicare began paying for much of the treatment kidney patients needed, the RGKF shifted its focus to finding a way to help children with kidney disorders attend summer camp — a dream of Ruth’s that wasn’t possible during her lifetime.
Donate Today
Your valued gift will be earmarked for the purpose of supporting kidney campers through CFNJ, a highly respected non-profit that manages the RGKF’s assets. Your contribution will continue to directly subsidize our program as it has for 50 years. Thank you for your genorosity and continued support.