I call them "Camperships"
/We kicked off our "campership" drive on March 17. The opening event was the super-fun Mud Run. Everything that follows will be somewhat low key - a few emails - some letters - more blog posts - and a lot of thank-you cards. Sound View is blessed with a wonderful donor base of individuals (friends and alumni) as well as churches who lovingly find ways to send kids to camp with kind gifts.
About a year ago, I started using the term "campership" instead of "scholarship" for designated funds which help families send their kids to Sound View. We can ascertain that "school" comes from - Old English "scol" derived from Latin "schola". So with that that in mind, and camp being entirely different from school, I wanted the institutions somewhat separated. So camperships came to be.
But - it is just a name. The main point is that we all look forward to saying, "YES - we would love having your child at camp and we can help you if you cannot afford to pay the full fee." The Sound View Board has directed me, and the staff, to ensure that "no child is turned away for inability to pay," and every spring, we respond to requests for financial assistance with the hope that we have enough funds to serve all.
The campership drive helps raise these funds. Churches help by creating sponsorship funds of their own. Youth-serving agencies also assist with their own funds as well as identifying kids who really could use a life-changing experience at a Christian camp. I am always blown away by the level of support from all these partners.
A week of camp only costs $375. To sponsor a kid for a week of camp, with all the "fixings" is not a huge financial commitment. Studies abound as to the benefits of resident camping and you can read even more if you have the time. But for something as simple and yet profound to have existed for so many years - the experience of getting away and outside in God's creation with new friends - we certainly know that this is something quite precious and worth investing in.
Please consider a gift to our 2018 campership drive. Camp makes childhood that much better!