Whispering Pines November 2021

November 2021

Holiday Greetings from Northern Michigan!

YEAR-END GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

Please watch your mailboxes for our end-of-year annual fund letter. While we’ve enjoyed a successful year, we depend upon the year-end support of our Hayo-Went-Ha Camps community to ensure that we’re in a good financial position to serve next summer’s campers. There will also be opportunities to give electronically via our website.

Your gift to our annual fund helps to provide financial assistance to deserving families as well as allowing us to defray some of our many operational costs… costs that have risen significantly through the pandemic.

In its essence, here’s what a gift to the Hayo-Went-Ha Camps Annual Fund ensures (in the words of a 2021 camp parent):

“Camp has provided many building blocks and support for growth in so many ways over the years. After witnessing the commitment from staff to all campers, their work, and dedication to provide the best experience for each camper was truly inspiring and a testament to the Camps’ level of belief in what they do. Providing the best in all areas to all campers. This is what we have come to expect and look forward to when signing up for new programs each year.”

Thanks in advance for your generous support of Hayo-Went-Ha Camps!

We’re (going to be) on the road again!

After a year of all-virtual camp promotional events, we’re planning on getting back out there for a series of in-person rallies and home shows. Our rallies will take place in such familiar locales as Ann Arbor, Bloomfield Hills, Chicago and Cincinnati, as well as other places where we have a concentration of camp families and alumni.

In addition to these larger events, we’re looking to set up an ambitious series of home shows – more intimate gatherings held in the homes of current families, alumni, and other Hayo-Went-Ha Camps friends. These events are a wonderful way to share the magic of our camps with prospective families.

We’re looking for hosts! If you would like to help our recruitment efforts by holding an event in your home, please reach out to Amanda or Dave. If you are able to help us promote the event by reaching out to your local networks, this will help to make the home show more successful.

These events are typically held on weeknights and last for 60-90 minutes. Our team will bring all the AV equipment and camp materials. And we’ll travel anywhere we can gather with a group of five or more prospective campers. In addition to the Michigan/Illinois/Ohio tri-state area, we’ve got a sizable HWH presence in such places as Denver, northern Virginia, southern California, greater NYC and more!

Together, we can fill our camps for the 2022 summer!

Leaders in the outdoor industry help each other.

Staff is the key to our summer success! Recruiting, interviewing, and training staff is a year-round process and we are always very proud of our hard-working and dedicated staff. The camping profession can be a great network when looking for staff, and what could be better than collaborating with an organization that offers young adults a program during the school year and who is looking for opportunities for summer employment for their alumni?

Working with the Alzar group is just that perfect collaboration. The Alzar Gap program provides high school graduates with life-changing experiences while offering tangible leadership training and certifications in world-class destinations. The Alzar participants learn more about themselves, gain a broader worldview, and make authentic connections with diverse people in wild and untamed parts of the world. It sounds like these staff will then make amazing HWH Camps staff. Thank you Alzar group for sharing information with your alumni about HWH Camps.

Learn more about Alzar Gap at https://alzarschool.org/gap/

FINANCIAL AID:

CAMPERSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED FOR NEXT SUMMER!

Submit online between December 1 and March 15, 2022

YMCA services and programs are designed for the entire community. The Hayo-Went-Ha Camps Campership program helps assure an opportunity for all youth, adults, and families to participate. If you know of a family that hesitates sending their children to camp due to financial situations, please share the link below.

Complete a short application online at:  Hayo-Went-Ha.org/financial-aid-form

Camperships will be limited to one 2-week session, or one 4-week session per camper, per summer. If we cannot award you a campership, or if space is not available in the program of your choice, any amount you have already paid will be fully refunded. Camp Directors will review applications when received, and families will be notified of award status as soon as possible via email.

YMCA HWH Camps Annual Christmas shirt – Order by December 1st!

This year the design and shirt color will be the same for both camps (everyone loves racoons, right?)  CLICK HERE to order  Instructions for payment are on the form.  We need all orders by December 1st to ensure that the package arrives at your house to go under the tree in time.

CEO Ramblings – Dave DeLuca

It’s hard to believe that it’s been just ten months since I arrived here in northern Michigan. I’ve met so many people and learned so much about these amazing camps… but I’ve still just scratched the surface. I have a sense that the learning process will go on for quite a while.

As our summer staff know all too well, I called this past summer my season of observation. I took copious notes, asked a plethora of questions, and earned a reputation for “lurking.” A reputation that was parodied extraordinarily well during several all-camp events at Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha!

I’ll share some of my learnings here. First – my overarching mantra: We do many things well, but we can everything better. The following comments are not intended to be overly critical or to ignore the incredible things that happen at our camps. Still, we improve by focusing on our flaws.

Neither camp has consistently filled to capacity in recent years. This is, in part, due to our program model (specific programs for each age/grade level) but may also be indicative of the need for a more comprehensive marketing plan. Our enrollment challenges are also more specifically a first-session issue: we must focus on recruiting more campers for the first four weeks of the season.

While my comments are applicable (in varying degrees) to both of our camps, I’d be remiss if I didn’t commend Amanda Macaluso for the amazing job that she does in building community at our girls camp. I appreciate the intentionality that goes into her work.

So – where do I want us to focus on efforts in the months ahead? Here’s a start:

• Recruiting the most-qualified and skilled staff teams at each camp. Without leaders that understand and buy into our mission, we’ll never be completely successful.
• Developing a comprehensive training program that starts with the big picture (our “Why”) and then drills down to each and every component of the camp experience.
• Better, more extensive training for our leaders on the wilderness tripping aspect of our program.
• Re-introducing a more comprehensive skill development component to our in-camp experience. Kids need this – and it leads to lifelong interests and increased self-esteem.
• Our program needs to become more progressive. We see this in our trips component (every year a more challenging offering of experiences), but we lack a similar progression in our in-camp experience.
• Addressing the significant deferred maintenance at both camps (facilities and equipment) and building a sense of pride within our community to respect and care for our physical assets.

There’s more – a lot more – but that’s enough for now.

Please know that I feel that we (the Hayo-Went-Ha Camps community) are up to the challenges of addressing these items. And there will be roles for everyone – campers, staff members, parents, alumni, donors, volunteers and more. I can already envision what success will look like…

If you’d like to share your thoughts (and talents), please feel free to reach out to me via email.

Now, back to work!

Priceless Memories – Sharing Smiles from the 2021 Season

Gift Certificates Available for the Holidays – Give the gift of Camp!

Many parents and Grandparents give the gift of camp at Christmas. We have seven designs of gift certificates available, and each can be customized with a dollar value for a variety of  gifts. The designs below all show Discover Scuba, but you could choose bike rental, Bubble Maker option, a Camp Store voucher for a Hoodie sweatshirt, or make a payment toward the program fees, etc.  Our registrar can customize any special message for your son, daughter or Grandchild. They are printed on cardstock and mailed so you can wrap or frame the surprise to be opened on Christmas morning!

Call 231-544-5915 or Email Cathy Kulhawik at registrar@hayowentha.org to place an order.

Select: 1. Black & Gold, 2. Red Ornament, 3. Green background/Yellow lights, or 4. Parchment

Select:  5. Red with White tree, 6. Blue Snowflake design, or 7. Red with white ornament

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.  Enjoy!

*If you have a favorite recipe for the holidays, please send it to the HWH Cook at Torch Lake so that we can share with others. Connie’s email is: cjenkins@hayowentha.org