Kim Holtzman Sloan, Camp Director
Kim has spent much of her life as part of the Camp Sabra family and the St. Louis Jewish community. She became a Sabra camper in 1986, transitioned to staff in 1990, and progressed to being a unit head by 1995. She knows Camp Sabra thoroughly – she has served as everything from a counselor-in-training to a nanny to a unit head to Assistant Director and now, as Camp Director.
While Kim served as the Assistant Director of Camper Retention and Recruitment, Camp Sabra saw incredible growth. During her time, she saw the highest growth at 84%. This is due in part to the personal connections Kim fostered with almost every camper family – she has enrolled almost every single camper since 2014. Her promotion as Camp Director provides these families with a continued connection to Camp Sabra’s leadership and allows Kim to bring the insight these relationships have given her to the daily operations of camp.
Her favorite part of her job is seeing the new generations of campers joining the Camp Sabra family – the parents of many she knows from her own days as a camper. She looks forward to each new camp season and meeting all the new campers and families joining our community.
Kim grew up in St. Louis as a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth becoming a Bat Mitzvah and being Confirmed there. She and her family are still Shaare Emeth members. Her youngest is a camper on her 7th summer and her oldest will be staff for the first time after being a camper for 9 years. Kim earned her Bachelor of Communications in Television and Radio from the University of Southern Illinois Carbondale.
Lisa Deutsch, Associate Director
Lisa joined the year-round team at Camp Sabra in 2019 and, due to her success in supporting the increased need for mental health assistance, her role now expands to full-time. Lisa oversees the Community Care Team in the summer. This team consists of professionals in the mental health field and also teachers. The focus for the Community Care Team is to make sure both staff and campers get the support they need to be successful at camp in dealing with mental, social, emotional, and spiritual health. Prior to this position, Lisa served as the camp “mom”, helping campers and staff with social, emotional, and behavioral adjustments to camp. Lisa is also responsible for camper retention and recruitment in the off-season. Lisa is a Camp Sabra alum who also has served as a camp counselor and sent all four of her children to Camp Sabra. Some have also been staff and continue to work at camp.
Lisa earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Before joining the year-round team at Camp Sabra, Lisa facilitated It’s a Girl Thing, a Nishmah program at the J. Lisa also led Girls in the Know and worked At CHADS Coalition, whose mission is focused on suicide awareness, education, and support in elementary, middle school and high school in the greater St. Louis area.
Joshua Rudman, Assistant Director of Programming
Joshua’s Sabra journey started with the generations before him. His Grandma Momo was a camper at Camp Hawthorne, and his dad and uncles were campers and staff, then Joshua’s love for camp started with Family Weekends as a kid alongside his siblings and cousins. Joshua was a camper in 2012, staff in 2015, and then Unit Head in 2019. Josh joined the admin team for the summer of 2022 and shortly after joined the full-time team as the Assistant Director of Programming.
Josh will be overseeing all things programming at Camp Sabra. With his previous involvement in the Jewish Non-Profit world as an FJC Cornerstone Fellow, Sabra Unit Head and Admin, and Hillel Springboard Fellow, Josh will bring years of experience to help make the best programming possible for campers and staff at Camp Sabra.
Josh is a true Missourian; he grew up in St. Louis, graduated from the University of Missouri earning a BS in Animal Sciences as well as a Minor in Religious Studies, and spent most of his summers in the Ozarks at Camp Sabra. Josh loves camping, hiking, kayaking, and really anything that involves the outdoors.
Bobbi Gums, Assistant Director of Staff Recruitment and Engagement
Bobbi Gums was born in Las Vegas and moved to Missouri as an older teen. Bobbi attended the University of Central Missouri where she majored in Political Science. She started her camp career as a counselor at Missouri Girls State in 2014. From there, she decided to take on a residential camp position at Point O’Pines Camp for Girls in Brant Lake, NY.
Reflecting on that experience, Bobbi said, “During my time at Point O’Pines, I served as an in-bunk counselor, musical theater choreographer, dance director, and their program director/staff coordinator. Camping is something I have grown to be extremely passionate about and I am so excited to begin my journey at Camp Sabra.”
In her free time, Bobbi enjoys taking dance classes, reading, and playing video games or board games with her friends.
Todd Witzman, Facilities Manager
Todd Witzman celebrated his 20th year at Camp Sabra in 2021. In his role as Facilities Manager, Todd has overseen every improvement and addition made to camp during its renovations. Under Todd’s supervision, we have added new cabins, medical center, office, staff lounge, arts & crafts studio, sports pavilion, theatre pavilion, docks, and more to our campus. Todd’s experience in facilities, logistics, and construction ensures that our campers and staff return every summer to our first-class amenities, the foundation upon which the entire Camp Sabra experience builds. Todd lives at Camp Sabra with his wife, Tamara, and four children, providing year-round stewardship of the Staenberg Peninsula.
Jewel McKercher, Operations Manager
As Operations Manager, Jewel McKercher oversees all transportation needs, including camper travel and trip logistics. Jewel ensures that your camper arrives easily to camp, experiences seamless travel during camp activities and returns home safely. Additionally, she oversees the administration side of all camper registration and billing.
Jewel joined the Sabra team full-time as Operations Manager in January of 2023. She is an Iowa State University Graduate with a BA in Education and Recreation. Jewel and her husband, Jim, relocated to Lake of the Ozarks from Omaha in August of 2022. Prior to moving to Rocky Mount, she worked in long-term health care as a recreation therapist and more recently as an early childhood center director.
In her spare time, she enjoys boating, swimming, fishing, spending time with her family, sunsets, and entertaining friends & family.