A Bright Light
I think it’s safe to say that we are all feeling fatigued, frustrated, sad and a little numb as we wrestle with the reality that our lives are still being greatly impacted by Covid-19. As we approach our 3rd year navigating the pandemic, 5.75 million lives have been lost worldwide to this disease. The CDC estimates that 175,000 children in the United States alone have lost a parent or primary caregiver to Covid-19. Our hearts go out to all families who have lost a loved one during these difficult times.
As we continue to grapple with the pandemic’s devastating effects on our communities, offerings like Camp Fire programs become much more vital to the social and emotional health of our youth.
I am privileged and honored to be leading an organization whose staff and volunteers have consistently been a spark and a bright light, in these most trying times for the youth and families that we serve. We are also blessed with loyal and generous donors who stepped up and collectively gave more than $350,000 last year! This enabled Camp Fire to serve 3,000 youth in our summer programs, begin new partnerships with local school districts and continue to connect youth and families to each other and the outdoors.
I am especially proud of the results of our 2021 Program Participant surveys which further demonstrates our impact including that 98% of Camp Fire kids surveyed acquired and improved their social and emotional skills, 96% value people of diverse backgrounds and abilities and 99% developed knowledge and appreciation for the natural world.
As we look ahead, registrations for Camp Sealth are already over 80% of capacity and Day Camp registrations for this summer aren’t too far behind. We are currently serving over 200 youth in our Teen Leadership and Club programs, including many new virtual groups, and are starting to welcome schools back for Outdoor Education at Camp Sealth.
I am especially excited about our newly established Equity Action Fund which will fund partnerships and initiatives that connect more BIPOC campers, staff and volunteers to Camp Fire programs.
We could not do the work we do without your continued support. I want to thank you for your partnership and in these trying times, I encourage you to stay the course and offer grace to yourself and to others often. We will get through this together.
Thank you for being a part of the Camp Fire community,
Rick Taylor
Executive Director
P.S. I invite you to connect with our work in one of the following ways below this spring!
Support our Candy Sale
Visit our Online Shop While Supplies Last!
Camp Sealth & Cultural Appropriation Discussion, February 24th, Zoom
Camp Sealth Day of Service, April 2nd
Help Get Camp Ready for Summer!