I am delighted to announce the successful completion of our Capital Campaign to Renovate the Nature Camp Education Building, affectionately known as Building on Tradition. We started the campaign quietly in late 2018. At that time, the expected cost for the renovation and ancillary expenses would approach $300,000 so that’s what we set as the goal. We also set an end date for the campaign at the end of 2021. We got a bit louder about the campaign in 2019 and our community pitched in generously. Then 2020 happened. Many people opted to give in an effort to help the world in some way. Your generosity continues to overwhelm me. At the last count, we have reached 64% of that $300,000 goal. The good news is the Education Building Renovation is essentially complete, and thanks to our contractor, L.G. Flint (President Andy Flint is a former Nature Camper and Nature Camp Staffer), the cost has been SO much less than $300,000. We are declaring the Capital Campaign complete. Thank you so very much. We are planning a dedication celebration during our Reunion scheduled for Labor Day weekend in 2022. Come party with us!
A word about 3rd party fundraising for the Nature Camp Foundation: Bottom line up front, we are all for it! What is it? Facebook is the most-used platform for folks to set up fundraisers in celebration of their birthdays or other special days that benefit a specified charitable organization. We have received a number of checks from the Fundraiser Manager for Facebook: Network for Good. By the time we receive the payment the money arrives in an aggregated sum. The Nature Camp Foundation has no way of knowing who the individual donors are or how to thank them. I am sharing this in the spirit of expectation management. We are profoundly grateful for these gifts, we just have to thank our community as a whole, as I am doing here. Thank you, thank you very much!!
In other parts of the Afterglow, you will read from the Flip Coulling, Executive Director of Nature Camp that Nature Camp is working hard to provide a safe and enriching in-person experience this summer. The Nature Camp, Inc. administration has worked hard to identify and mitigate the costs of altered operations in this new Covid-safe environment and the NCF is poised to provide additional funding when needed. Won’t you please consider an additional donation to the Nature Camp Foundation to help defray this new expense? Let us get back to having a Nature Camp as familiar as we long for yet as safe as we need.
To give, drop a check in the mail to:
The Nature Camp Foundation
P.O. Box 265
Studley VA 23162
If you’d like to give electronically, please visit us at www.naturecampfoundation.org/give/.