Camp Kawartha recognizes that schools with a lower socio-economic status includes families whose incomes, for a wide variety of reasons, make a visit to the Camp challenging…actually, a better word is impossible. Although we work hard to keep our Outdoor Education prices accessible, for some school families, those fees are still too prohibitive.
We have in place a Subsidy Fund (supported by many of our donors – thank you to them!) that we can dip into to help parents cover some, or in some cases, all the fees. This lifeline means that individual students, and sometimes whole classes, can attend without families having to choose between an enriching class trip with peers or food for the table, or rent, or hydro, or clothing.
Many of these students do not have the necessary sleeping bags and blankets to stay overnight! Their families are cobbling together a mishmash of bedding in hopes that their child will be warm enough in their cabins at night.
A teacher suggested that we reach out to our families to see if we could get some clean sleeping bags and clean blankets that we can store here to share with these families when needed.
Here is what teacher from our subsidized school said:
As Teachers we saw such positive growth in our students over the 3 days we were here. I have been their teacher for 8 months, but I have seen the most positive personal development, new friendships and kids coming out of their shells this week than ever before. Students were engaged in programming and to experience so many new things. One student said “this is the best school day ever!”
If you have clean sleeping bags in working order, or clean blankets that you are not using, please consider donating them to a student in need. Reach out to Jacob (jrodenburg@campkawartha.ca) or Susan (sramey@campkawartha.ca) if you would like to donate to our Bedding Inventory! (Thanks, but no pillows, please.)
