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From the CampGroup Chronicles - January 2007
January 2007
CampGroup Chronicles
CampGroup and Its Camps Nurture Their Own Sense of Social Responsibility
CAMP DANBEE held its 2ndannual Swim-a-thon and Fun Fair in honor of Brianna DiCarlo, assistant facility manager Don DiCarlo's 5 -year-old daughter who passed away two years ago. Campers swam continuous laps for one hour to raise money for GIVE KIDSTHE WORLD, a charity supported by Brianna's parents. Almost 80 of Danbee's older campers also helped run booths, paint faces and pass out food at the Fun Fair, which is a Danbee-style Carnival held near camp for our local community. The two events raised over $11,000!! Danbee's campers also completed a painting project for the local highway department. The camp received a special note of thank ssigned by the Town of Hinsdale's selectmen.
CAMP WICOSUTA's Dance Marathon for Breast Cancer Re-search was a huge success, raising over $4,300 to help find a cure for Breast Cancer.
For at least the fifth consecutive summer, CAMP WALT WHITMAN's Morry's Camp Swim-A-Thon raised more money than any other participating camp. Whitman campers swam 21,800 laps, and campers, parents, and year-round staff combined to donate $23,655, far exceeding Whitman's own records. Some believe this record is unbreakable -- on par with the DiMaggio hitting streak.
It was CAMPMAH-KEE-NAC's second year participating in the Morry's Camp Swim-A-Thon. Mah-Kee-Nac campers also pitched in to help the Stockbridge Bowl Association run their annual picnic. For the tenth consecutive summer,
CAMP RAMAQUOIS raised funds for The Pediatric Cancer Foundation. This year, the camp ran a Sports-a-Thon. Campers and staff participated in a wide variety of activities, from pickle ball to basketball –and collected funds from sponsors based on their participation. The Sport-A-Thon raised over $15,000. Even more impressive was that the Ramaquois staff raised $3,000.
CAMPWINAUKEE's Pediatric Cancer swim-a-thon raised more than $6,000, a Winaukee record!
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January 2007
CampGroup Chronicles
The Road Warriors – A Triumph in Shared Resources
Richard Brann and his nephew, Nate Brann, who were initially employed at Camp Cobbossee, have become CampGroup "road warriors." In the winter of 2006, when Camp Wicosuta's facilities manager Paul Morrill took sick, we asked Richard and Nate to travel from Wicosuta to fill in. They did a great job, and headed off to Winaukee to do even more work prior to the start of camp. Richard and Nate worked September through November 2006 at Winaukee, December 2006 through February 2007 at Wicosuta,and split their time from March through May between Walt Whitman and Winadu. They will spend two more weeks at Winaukee before camp begins. Over the past eight months, they have paneled and trimmed out dozens of cabins at Winaukee, Wicosuta and Winadu, helped panel the Wicosuta dining hall, and paneled and installed the floor tile in the new Walt Whitman health center.
Brian Knowles and Ray Baillardgeon, two other Cobbossee employees who have done great work on the rejuvenation of Cobbossee also spent three weeks on the road this year doing a great job on the Winadu paneling project. Many thanks to our road warriors for helping upgrade the quality and cost efficiency of our capital improvements.
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January 2007
CampGroup Chronicles
Facilities Retreat Helps Those In Need
From October 25 – 27, CampGroup held its sixth annual facilities retreat in Freeport, Maine. Facilities personnel from every CampGroup camp attended. The first day was spent sharing Best Practices and viewing a slide show depicting the extensive renovations undertaken at Camp Cobbossee over the past year. The next morning, the group toured Cobbossee and then began its community service project, the renovation of two area homes. The projects received front page coverage in the local newspaper. An excerpt is reprinted below:
KENNEBEC JOURNAL, October 26, 2006
A chance for giving back
LITCHFIELD – Ray and Jeane Bruder haven't been able to wash their dishes in the kitchen of their 1800s farmhouse for at least two years. Instead, the couple has been washing dishes in the bathroom. On Thursday, a group of volunteers arrived to change that. The workers came from CampGroup, a large operator of for-profit summer camps.
"We started remodeling a while ago," said Bruder, a soft-spoken man with closely-cropped, gray hair. "But I've been through some medical problems, which forced me to stop. And this group said they'd come in and be willing to complete the work. "CampGroup teamed up with the Southern Kennebec County chapter of Habitat for Humanity to find two projects -- the Bruder house in Litchfield and a home in Wayne. Habitat for Humanity identified the two projects and supplied the insurance needed for the work. CampGroup volunteers -- 25 from Camp Cobbossee and camps in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York -- attempted to complete all the repair work in just two days.
Work at the Bruder house included installing kitchen cabinets, leveling the floor and appliances, insulating walls, plumbing a sink and dishwasher, knocking down part of a crumbling chimney and repairing a leak in the roof. Meanwhile, a second crew working on a home in Wayne was busy repairing siding, replacing windows, putting in some handrails and fixing insulation. Hancock Lumber donated siding and other supplies. Sherwin Williams in Augusta supplied the paint. And Marden's in Lewiston also sent supplies.
The couple, said the Bruders' daughter, Chani Mitchneck, just hit a string o fbad luck, which prompted her to write to Habitat for Humanity for help. "We all were just ecstatic when we found out they would help," Mitchneck said. "I got an email while I was at work --working the third shift -- and I was crying when I found out. Then I called my parents and my mother was in tears.
The day after the work began, this e-mail was received from Chani Mutschnick:
To the staff of Camp Cobbossee and Habitat for Humanity, I just wanted to let you know how very thankful we are for the help and support you have given my family. Although you have donated time, materials, and labor, you have given so much more. At a time when all hope seemed to be exhausted, you renewed our spirits. Your generosity has greatly enhanced my parent's quality of living. Our faith in people, in community service, has been restored. What is so refreshing, is that it is obvious to me how the spirit of giving is so real. In speaking with my mom tonight, after their first day of work at the house, she sounded so happy! I said to her we're happy and right now the men and people who have helped to make this possible are feeling so happy and proud to do something so giving, so wonderful. It is a win/ win situation! How very fortunate we are! How very fortunate are those of you who are able to be a part of such a wonderful organization, one that can make such a difference in people's lives. My mom said to me, It doesn't seem real I thought it could never happen... You made it happen!
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January 2007
CampGroup Chronicles
Campgroup And Haitian Students Join Forces
Haiti is one of the world's poorest nations. More than half the population is illiterate; less than half of all children reach age 5; the average life spans 53 years and the average per capita (per person) income is $500.Together with the Church Outreach To Youth Project ("COTY") ofNorth Adams, Massachusetts, CampGroup, Camp Winadu and Camp Mah-Kee-Nac have been helping to break the cycle of Haitian poverty by hiring Haitian students to work as summer kitchen and maintenance workers.
The program began at Winadu four years ago, when Shelley Weiner was approached by COTY's founder, Sister Eunice Tassone and COTY supporter Bob Petricca, a former Winadu camp parent, about bringing the Haitian students to this country to work at Winadu. Fifteen Haitians traveled to Winadu the first year, and the number has continued to grow. The program expanded to Mah-Kee-Nac in 2006.This summer, 25 Haitians will work at Winadu, and 9 will work at Mah-Kee-Nac.
In order to participate in CampGroup's Summer Work/Travel J-1 Visa program, a Haitian participant must be enrolled in a bona-fide post-secondary institution. Although Haiti's school system is barely functioning, Sister Eunice has arranged for the Haitians to attend various schools in and around Port 'O Prince, Haiti.
The Haitian students have proven to be productive, hard working and enthusiastic workers. The promise of a summer job that pays three times the annual average also motivates participants to zealously pursue an education.
Not only do the Haitians students do great work, they contribute in many ways to camp culture. Mah-Kee-Nac Director Lynn Roy relayed the following story. "On one of our last nights of camp, the entire camp was gathered in the field house. Osnel, one of the Haitian guys, led the other five in song. They wore jeans and black shirts and sang a song by the Supremes. They moved in sync, snapping their fingers and singing away. They finished; the campers and staff rose to their feet cheering and the Haitians broke into another song. It was the greatest moment for them and for many of our campers, too. It was amazing to watch their transformation from the beginning of camp. They had come so far since the first day of introductions at orientation when they would barely speak loud enough for us to hear their name."
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January 2007
CampGroup Chronicles
Alumni Project Overview And Goals For 2008
We estimate, that between all of our camps, there are 33,000 living alumni. So far, we have gathered more than 20,000 names and confirmed contact information for 9,800. By tapping in to the Cobbossee, Wicosuta, Ramaquois and Lake of the Woods/Greenwoods alumni, we hope to have confirmed contact information for more than 15,000 alumni by the end of 2008. For 2008, we also hope to have each camp on a twice yearly alumni newsletter schedule, help organize at least two more alumni reunions and set up the sale of camp gear on all alumni web-sites and begin to explore other value-added opportunities for our alumni.
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