THANK YOU!
ON NOVEMBER 15TH, OUR INCREDIBLE COMMUNITY CAME TOGETHER AND RAISED OVER $239,000!
Please watch this special message of thanks
What happened in summer 2020?
These times may call for physical distance but, socially, we continue to be deeply connected. Through ‘NBBConnects’ our alternative summer program:
* Over 275 campers and staff chose to actively participate in our regularly scheduled summer programming
*` Over 400 of you participated in one or more of our community events including our first ever virtual BBQ, Havdalah and alumni trivia night.
* Social media Olympics that saw alumni from the past join in and bridge the generations of NBB alumni through hundreds of posts and comments for some fun competition.
* Campers took camp facilitated high school credit courses, joined in on unbelievable ‘esports’ challenges, and participated in some on-line learning and engagement with several of our partner organizations.
* We collaborated as a community with ‘backyard camps’ to equip you with hours of programming each day wich we know kept so many of you busy over the most challenging months to date of this pandemic
Camp was in such a strong place before COVID. The summer of 2020 was projected to be our largest enrolment in modern history with over 700 participating unique campers. Wow! We were all looking forward to improvements, upgrades and surprises that were ready for summer 2020 that included brand new nighttime lighting for our extensive basketball courts, new sheds and bleachers around camp, new landscaping and fields opened for outdoor programming, new windsurfers, sails and paddle boards, in addition to a new cabin sailboat to teach a whole new level of sailing. We were going to reveal new skis and kneeboards, tubes and a fully refurbished Jcraft with a brand new engine for the ski program for the greatest slalom experience ever on Moose Lake. We were so excited to have positioned the greatest staff team we have seen in a long time, including an unprecedented number of ‘come back’ staff that were primed to bring so much experience and joy for our campers.
We want to continue our journey to offering the facilities and programming of any ‘private’ for profit camp, but to never lose sight of who we are as a not for profit charitable organization. We will not compromise on our ‘down to earth’, welcoming and inclusive camp culture, full of kindness and compassion. Yet, we will continue our goal to be positioned as the greatest Jewish camp in the world from all angles including facilities, culture, programming, intentionality, supervision, safety, security and our underlying values that shape our choices each day.
Looking Forward to Summer 2021
As we count down to camp 2021, we reflect on the fact this past summer was the first time in over 110 years that we did not operate a summer camp for children. Summer 2020 was going to be our 75th year operating the camp as we know it today on the very same site in Haliburton Ontario. But we can’t look back and we won’t look back. On that note, our enrollment for 2021 is actually LARGER than the 2020 record numbers of campers year over year to date. Your demonstrated confidence motivates us to always be our best.
We are not just preparing, but we are also leading the field. In my role as Executive Director of The Jewish Camp Council of Toronto (and Camp Director of Camp Northland) I have been deeply involved in working with a focus group on scenario planning for 2021 for the entire Jewish camping world with The Foundation for Jewish camping. Most recently I was asked to bring my expertise as an overnight camp professional and background in risk management and health and safety preparedness to the Ontario Camps Association’s Covid Task Force to work on developing best practices, advocate, lobby and meet with government officials as needed to ensure the safest and best summer of 2021 possible for our children. Adam, our Associate Director, is working deeply on developing an industry wide virtual platform to ensure ongoing year round engagement for our camping community, and sitting on a task force to lead staff training initiatives for the summer of 2021. We have an army of young alumni that are now working with us as camp professionals in areas including media, development (fundraising), staff development and training, alumni engagement, camper year round engagement and more. We are raising the bar, setting the bar and modeling how a summer can step up and shape an industry and power a community. This is your camp and we are leading the field.
The Projected Impact of Covid-19 on Camp’s Ability to Open
Even though 250-odd days seems a long time away, we have a lot to do to prepare. It’s our commitment to be the industry-leading camp in terms of COVID-19 prevention and preparedness.
Our commitment to being a camp that enables any child to experience camp who wants to is unwavering. But in light of COVID, being able to make this commitment a reality, practically speaking, is even more challenging. We are not just going to provide a ‘safe’ camp. The camp we provide for our children, for your community, in 2021 will have the greatest program, the best trained staff, the most innovative concepts and the most fun ever. We will rise above and create new opportunities for our children that were not even imagined before this crisis. Kids need camp now more than ever. We can do this and we will do this. Many camps in other jurisdictions opened and operated successfully in 2020 despite the surrounding pandemic. We now have the benefit of time, case studies, learning, and collaboration to set us up for an amazing summer in 2021 at Camp Northland. You have our commitment to do everything possible to open and we will adapt as needed to take whatever steps are required to maximize safety and trust. We are prepared and we will be prepared.
Day to Day Impact of Covid-19 on Camp - Current Projections
When so much has changed in our world, what are the implications for camp now, next summer and beyond?
Even facing many uncertainties about the coming year, we do have a couple of advantages. Unlike this past year, we have the experience of 2020 to draw on and some lead time to prepare, plan and project a variety of possible scenarios for camp in the COVID-19 era. Together with our professional staff and lay leadership, we are able to access the best available expertise in camping, finance, education, child wellness, public health and Jewish engagement.
As we are busy planning for various contingencies to make camp happen in 2021, what do we expect?
Summer camp will be more complex to manage, more expensive to run, more focused on bunk-centered group “pods,” and we expect camp will be more needed and more appreciated by campers and staff and families.
We are anticipating challenges like these:
· Health and safety enhancements to equipment and facilities, regular virus testing, and additional health staffing to meet new public health standards
· Greater need for financial aid for families hurt by the pandemic
· Possible reductions in number of campers allowed on site per session
· More costly and challenging summer staff recruitment, training, and retention
· Increased community demand for year-round, camp-driven engagement activities
What Now?
While thankfully camp is in very good shape today, we have a responsibility to have our camp stay strong and viable for the next hundred years, too.
“Rabbi Hillel used to say: If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?”
And now we need your help. We need to go all in, all together, now. We are hoping for 100% participation from our community.
The “All Together Now” campaign supports a sustainable future for the summer of 2021 and beyond. We re working diligently on our summer plans and implementing unprecedented camp safety improvements from lessons learned from around the world.
We are incredibly proud that the Harold Grinspoon Foundation has chosen us to receive their support in the form of a 1:2 match of any funds raised. Anton Rabie and Ronnen Harary have also stepped up in tremendous ways to support the camp by offering additional matching support to our campaign. Funds raised will enable us to undertake necessary program space, Health Centre, and cabin renovations, improve food services procedures and dining facilities, circulation and ventilation improvements, purchase medical and personal protective equipment, create additional program areas for physical distancing, modify cabins as required, and increase staffing. All this is being done to ensure the safety of our campers and staff.
“From strength to strength, and from generation to generation”
“Mechayil lechayil, [mekoach lekoach], me dor le dor”
We Are Going ALL-IN as a Camp and Community
In facing these challenges, the greatest advantage we have is YOU. With this matching grant, your (tax receipt eligible) donation of $54.00 becomes $81.00; your gift of $118.00 now becomes $177.00; etc. Many members of our camp community have already made the choice to join our ‘All Together Now’ campaign. But, we need everyone to participate in some way (click here for some options). We need YOU today, now, more than ever. Our goal is to raise $350,000 by the end of 2020. You can donate anytime, and any amount, by clicking HERE.
We are officially launching this larger “All Together Now” campaign with a Day of Giving. We have set a goal to raise $100,000 in 24 hours on Sunday November 15th, to kick off the broader campaign. Look for the social media links and email to make your donation and help us achieve our collective one-day goal. You will likely also receive a phone call from the one of the 100 volunteers expected to be helping us achieve this goal!
While thankfully camp is in very good shape today, we have a responsibility to have our camp stay strong and viable for the next hundred years, too.
“Rabbi Hillel used to say: If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?”
And now we need your help. We need to go all in, all together, now. We are hoping for 100% participation from our community.
The “All Together Now” campaign supports a sustainable future for the summer of 2021 and beyond. We re working diligently on our summer plans and implementing unprecedented camp safety improvements from lessons learned from around the world.
We are incredibly proud that the Harold Grinspoon Foundation has chosen us to receive their support in the form of a 1:2 match of any funds raised. Anton Rabie and Ronnen Harary have also stepped up in tremendous ways to support the camp by offering additional matching support to our campaign. Funds raised will enable us to undertake necessary program space, Health Centre, and cabin renovations, improve food services procedures and dining facilities, circulation and ventilation improvements, purchase medical and personal protective equipment, create additional program areas for physical distancing, modify cabins as required, and increase staffing. All this is being done to ensure the safety of our campers and staff.
“From strength to strength, and from generation to generation”
“Mechayil lechayil, [mekoach lekoach], me dor le dor”
We Are Going ALL-IN as a Camp and Community
In facing these challenges, the greatest advantage we have is YOU. With this matching grant, your (tax receipt eligible) donation of $54.00 becomes $81.00; your gift of $118.00 now becomes $177.00; etc. Many members of our camp community have already made the choice to join our ‘All Together Now’ campaign. But, we need everyone to participate in some way (click here for some options). We need YOU today, now, more than ever. Our goal is to raise $350,000 by the end of 2020. You can donate anytime, and any amount, by clicking HERE.
We are officially launching this larger “All Together Now” campaign with a Day of Giving. We have set a goal to raise $100,000 in 24 hours on Sunday November 15th, to kick off the broader campaign. Look for the social media links and email to make your donation and help us achieve our collective one-day goal. You will likely also receive a phone call from the one of the 100 volunteers expected to be helping us achieve this goal!
