To honor Andrew’s memory, his family established the R. Andrew Helgeson Heart of Gold Recognition Program, which recognizes those counselors who exhibit outstanding effort and mirror his character.

The Helgeson family has worked diligently to keep Andrew’s memory alive by creating the Richard Andrew Helgeson Memorial Foundation to educate the public about sudden cardiac arrest and by supporting the Center’s effort to encourage excellence in counselors.

If you would like to recognize your child’s counselors, please consider making a gift in their honor to the R. Andrew Helgeson Heart of Gold Memorial Endowment Fund. This fund supports and perpetuates the R. Andrew Helgeson Heart of Gold Recognition Program for outstanding Camp JCC counselors. Each honored staff member receives a personal notification of your tribute. Donated funds are used to publicly recognize those staffers selected as most outstanding. Gifts can be made online or by contacting Rachel Ossman, Chief Development Officer at 301-348-3727or [email protected]. If made through our online donation, please pick “Endowment Fund” in the drop-down menu and put Heart of Gold in the comments section with the counselor’s name.

Andrew passed away unexpectedly from Sudden Cardiac Arrest on May 25, 2005, at only 18 years old, just before his high school graduation. Andrew’s family established the Richard Andrew Helgeson Memorial Foundation to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in young people. SCA has been recognized since 1954 and continues to pose a threat to our young people; still, the medical profession knows little about the causes.

The Foundation was successful in promoting and lobbying passage of a bill dubbed “Andrew’s Law” that was signed by then-Governor Robert Ehrlich on April 25, 2006. Andrew’s Law mandates the placement of AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in all Maryland high schools and at all school-sponsored sporting events to protect children, staff, and visitors.

In May of 2008, Governor Martin O’Malley signed a bill that he said was inspired by Andrew, which was an amendment to the Good Samaritan Law that clarifies that individuals shall not be held liable for using Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to save victims. Governor O’Malley also declared May 25 as Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Day in Maryland in honor of Andrew.

“The R. Andrew Helgeson Camp JCC Heart of Gold Counselor Awards are a source of great pride for us. It is a wonderful tribute that the counselors emulate Andrew’s exceptional qualities in a summer-long program. The fact that such a well-received and highly-sought award program is named in honor of Andrew is evidence to the fact that others saw in Andrew the special outstanding qualities that we, his family, always knew existed. Rita, Jennifer, and I are privileged and honored to be able to present the awards and provide financial support through an endowment fund so that they always continue. We want to thank the parents who contribute to the fund, the counselors and staff of Camp JCC, and the campers themselves who make it all worthwhile. Like Andrew said, ‘I can’t believe I get paid to have this much fun being a counselor.’ He loved Camp JCC.”

• In honor of Session 2 counselors in Maccabiah Minors and Omanut Chagalls by Naomi and Benjamin Aiken  
• In honor of Kachol counselors, by Jennifer and Dan Alman 
• In honor of Alex and Zvi Band, in honor of the HaBimah, Adom, and Omanut counselors.  
• In honor of Binx by Carey and Jim Beckley 
• In honor of Yunji Choi by Eunice Cho and John Minardi 
• In honor of the Adom-Strudel counselors by Jenna and Mitchell Cooper 
• In honor of Sivan Krowitz, Ben Waksberg, Jonathan Zimmer, and Adina by Rebecca and Aaron Droller 
• In honor of Adam, Juliet, Aryeh, and Zach by Michelle Ertischek and Julio Guzman 
• In honor of Yehuda Bienstock and Lisa Ettinger by Amy and Ryan Freedland 
• In honor of Sarah and the Chais (Lavan) counselors for sessions 1-3 by Anuradha Gajjar and Reya Ravi 
• In honor of the Lavan Yads counselors by Andrea Glinksi 
• In honor of Marina by Ivan Goldberg 
• Rae Grad and Manny Schiffres 
• In honor of the Maccabiah and Zahav counselors Lauri and Don Greenberg 
• In honor of Mary Grace Krik and Leinayiah Jex by Michelle and Yehudah Hampel 
• In memory of R. Andrew Helgeson, Rita, and Richard Helgeson 
• In honor of the Lavan-Yad counselors and Meredith Heltzer 
• In honor of Will, on behalf of Jordan, by Ilana Jolson and Daniel Amodeo  
• In honor of Zach and Kippot team, Joanna Lieberman and Roee Snir 
• In honor of Jeremy, Lucas, and the team by Candice Marcus 
• In honor of Nate in the Picassos by René Marais and Charl Marais 
• In honor of all the HaBimah counselors, CITs, and specialists by Marcy Marx 
• In honor of Will, Micah, and Arielle by Jocelyn Miller Zeitzoff and Thomas Zeitzoff 
• In honor of Eugene, Jeremy, and Doreen by Lori and Seth Mininsohn  
• In honor of Ash by Jeffrey Morrow 
• In honor of Sivan and the Chamsa counselors by Ryan and Adam Munitz 
• In honor of Chloe Goldberg by Deborah Nachmann and Jon Gold  
• In honor of the Omanut and Blintzes counselors by Drew Napolitano 
• In honor of Noam, Alexa, and Sebastian by K’lila Nooning 
• In honor of Noam by Dele and Oyeyemi Olaniran 
• In honor of Brooke Levin by Susan Ornstein 
• In honor of Noam Klein by Lisa and Gary Price 
• In honor of Sebastian by Tara and Aaron Rabin 
• In honor of the Blintzes and Knishes counselors by Abigail and Ezra Romirowsky 
• In honor of Nate, Benny, and Sivan by Yoni Sauerbrun 
• In honor of Daniel Ortega by Bo Saulsbury  
• In honor of Alex in Gesher by Emily Schuster and David Bauckham 
• In honor of Venus by Philip Shaikun  
• In honor of Mason, Casey, Archer, Lucas, Evan, Kayley, Sophia, Samantha, and Anna by Molly Shapiro 
• In honor of the Adom, Kesef, STEM counselors by Lauren Sherman 
• In honor of Sivan Lurie by Svitlana and Gregory Shpilman  
• In honor of Joshua Gale and Felix by Katie Smeltz 
• In honor of Ella, Amy, Justin, and Elissa in Kachol by DW Tunnage 
• In honor of Maya, Abbi, and Yehuda by Jennifer and William Vaden 
• In honor of the Adom Strudels and Maccabiah Minors counselors by Rachel and Joshua Wojnilower 
• In honor of Noam Klein by Yichuan Wang and Xiaoni Zhang