On Tuesday, December 19th, Camp Kawartha welcomed dignitaries and special guests to their Annual General Meeting held at the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre, located on the grounds of Trent University. Emcee, and Board President, Jason Huffman, welcomed over 50 guests to the annual event and provided an overview of the many accomplishments over the past fiscal year.
The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Member of Parliament for Peterborough—Kawartha and Minister of Status of Women was present, bringing congratulations from the Federal Government and acknowledging the value of Camp Kawartha to the region.
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Camp Kawartha provides continued leadership in environmental stewardship and sustainability and, perhaps most importantly, empowers youth to lead the change. Our government recognizes the importance of empowering youth with Indigenous and environmental knowledge so we can all do our part to combat climate change. That is why today, I want to congratulate Camp Kawartha’s dedicated team of volunteers, board members, and staff who have shown leadership in strengthening Peterborough—Kawartha’s community action to address climate change.” – Hon. Maryam Monsef.
Brad Collyer from McColl Turner LLP reported on the financial health of the organization over the last fiscal year. Collyer announced that once again there was a strong performance in all areas of programming, reaching more participants than ever.
In her address, keynote speaker, Brianna Salmon of Peterborough Green Up, summarized the many environmentally focused activities taking place in the City and County, and the leadership role being taken by Camp Kawartha, and it’s Executive Director, Jacob Rodenburg.
Camp Kawartha acknowledged with gratitude those Board members who were retiring. Special awards recognized Bob Burgis, Paul Elliott, Paul Legacy, Betsy Reburn, and Jim Moloney. Burgis and Reburn were singled out for each providing more than a decade of dedicated service. President Jason Huffman noted that the many skills of these departing Board members would be sorely missed by the organization.
Huffman also announced the development of Camp Kawartha’s Branching Out Capital Campaign. Still in the planning stages, the Campaign will be launched in the late spring of 2018. The goal is to invest in upgrading the infrastructure of the main camp; transforming the organization into a provincially significant environmental education leadership centre. The Campaign hopes to raise 3 million dollars to showcase sustainable construction in action, from an innovative, green designed dining hall and overnight accommodation to a state of the art waste management system. Each of the building features will be an opportunity to teach about best practices in sustainable design.
“By featuring state-of-the-art green buildings, by teaching children about ecology, nature connection and sustainable living, and by inspiring parents, educators and leaders to engage in acts of stewardship, Camp Kawartha will be a positive force for environmental change.”
