Camps Need Us Now Just Like We Need Them
Sleep-away camp is still a huge part of my life. It gave me the opportunity to learn. Not just to learn to sail (at which I excelled) and to play tennis (at which I did not) – but to find out about myself. I was independent. My friends were exclusively mine, not the children of my parents’ friends. I chose my own interests, the state and teachers didn’t mandate them. I had to figure out when to do laundry and take a shower (amazingly, not instinctive skills in young girls). I had to decide what to eat and how much. Camp taught me responsibility and how to make good (and sometimes not-so-good) decisions at a very young age. I love camp.
Our daughter went to the same camp I did. Between us, we have two dozen years in those white and green cabins, on that sparkling lake in the mountains, padding barefoot on the soft pine cone carpet. We have already taken her preschool daughter there so she can begin to imagine what her time at camp will be like. But, this summer, there is no camp. Like so many other traditions, other businesses, camp has been forced to close to keep its staff and campers safe from Covid-19.
Camps around the country are offering daily, online activities, singing and ceremonies. Many (my camp included) are continuing to pay staff who depend on that summer income. My camp has an operating kitchen to provide meals for those in the area who need a bit of help. My camp is running online camps for companies who need to keep employees’ children busy at home. My camp and all the others, still need to pay salaries, insurance, maintenance fees for time and weather-related projects. But, there is little, if any, income for these shuttered summer havens.
That’s where we come in. Remember your summers at camp. Send donations. Get in touch and see what you can do to help to make sure that summer camp is there when your children and grandchildren are ready to go. They will need a safe place to aspire and blossom and learn about themselves. We can take part in making sure they have that place.