CRS alum and LAJF Board Member, Evan Schwartz, shares why Camp Rising Sun has remained such a meaningful part of his life, and why he continues to give back, year after year.
Click to read his personal year-end note and gift match announcement! Please consider making a gift to LAJF and Camp Rising Sun before 2025 ends. Go to lajf.org/donate to give now.
LAJF and Camp Rising Sun are fortified by strong roots that stretch back 95 years. What began as a summer camp in 1930, is now a global movement that has grown generations of ethical leaders. Click to read the full end of year letter from our Executive Director, Barry Fulton.
Thank you for celebrating 95 Years of Camp Rising Sun! From October 24-26, 2025, we gathered at the iconic TWA Hotel to celebrate 95 years of Camp Rising Sun—and the global community that has made it all possible. Click to view photo highlights from the weekend celebration!
This year was the 11th Annual CRS NYAA Picnic in Central Park! Thank you to the New York Alumni Association for hosting and for everyone who joined us. Click the post to check out photos from the event.
Since 1930, LAJF and our programs, Camp Rising Sun and The Ethical Leadership Experience, have shaped the lives of more than 6,500 alumni from dozens of countries around the world. Across generations and continents, CRS and TELE alumni continue to lead with empathy, curiosity, and courage—bringing Rising Sun values into classrooms, courtrooms, creative industries, clinics, and communities. As we celebrate 95 years of impact, we’re spotlighting just a few of the many stories that show how a summer at Camp becomes a lifetime of meaning.
Here’s Liz Lee’s story—current Minnesota state representative of St. Paul’s Eastside district—who attended Camp Rising Sun in 2004.
The Clinton Facility Assessment is available in draft form. “CRS’s infrastructure and buildings and grounds provide a viable base to which improvements can be made. Although improvements will be a significant expense, with careful budgeting and planning in the next five years, CRS can be restored, revitalized, and prepared to expand and flourish for many more years to come.”
The Dutch alumni gathered during the National Day of Community Service, called NL Doet, which can be translated to ‘the Netherlands Acts’. The idea behind this day is to come together as alumni and to apply what they learned at Camp Rising Sun to their own country. Read about thier service day here.
The Program Committee is responsible for the Camp Rising Sun curriculum, evaluations, and comprise of the summer visit team? In 2016, we welcomed Bianca Rey (‘07, ‘12), Jose Javier Saenz Crespo (‘01, ‘02, ‘12, ‘13), and Torben Smidt Hansen (‘75) to the Program Committee. If you'd like to join the Program Committee, read more and learn how to join.
LOUIS AUGUST JONAS FOUNDATION 6 RISING SUN LANE RHINEBECK, NY, 12572, UNITED STATES +1 (212) 686-1930 CONTACT@LAJF.ORG
The Louis August Jonas Foundation (LAJF) and Camp Rising Sun (CRS) have a long-held commitment to the principles of diversity, stemming from our mission. In that spirit, LAJF and CRS do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, sexual orientation, nation of origin, gender, sex, or gender identity.
