District Foundation

The 2012 season is upon us and we are gearing up for another great Kamping experience for our New York District children who will come to Kamp and again enjoy a great experience at our Kamp.

Opening weekend is just around the corner, this year it will take place on May 3rd, 4th and 5th. Saturday May 5th is our dedication day when we get to honor the people who have made special donations to our Kamp in the past year. This year among other dedications, we will be paying special honor to the Bensonhurst & Bay Ridge Kiwanis Club in the completion of the new Arts and Crafts building. This was a three-year project by my home club that is culminating with the construction of a new building which will give the Kampers a great place to learn and create.

As we ask every year, we are looking for volunteers to come up to the Kamp on this weekend to help us with the general cleaning and sprucing up of the camp in order to get it ready for the season. We need people to come up and be willing to work, whether it be general clean up, some painting, helping with getting the kitchen ready and just about anything else that needs our attention.

Thanks to all you New York District Kiwanians, we are anticipating another great season of Kamping.

Gov. Bill Risbrook is continuing the military Kampers program so we are hoping to get a great deal of children of active military personnel. That's our way of saying thank you to them for their sacrifices.

Gov.-Elect Al Norato Jr. will be bringing his board to visit our Kamp and hopefully inspire them to continue supporting Kamp Kiwanis.

Our outreach program has been going better than it has in the past few years but it still not up to what it should be. So far only 70 clubs of the 265 in the district have contributed. I know that times are rough but we are asking that each club donate $3 or more per member for our outreach. This money comes in very handy in the off season when not much comes in but the bills still do, it gets us through the time of year when we really need it. We have reinstated the 100 percent Outreach program which rewards Lt. Governors whose division reach 100 percent giving to the outreach program with a plaque which will be presented at the 2013 Mid-Year Conference Foundation Board meeting. So far there are three divisions that are very close to achieving 100 percent. I hope that I will be able to give out a plaque for each division Lt. Governor.

Every club in the district should have gotten Kampership applications and are hopefully getting more so you can send lots of children. Should you need more please call Rebecca at the Kamp at (315) 336-4568 and she will be more than happy to send you as many as you need.

Thank you so much for your continuous support of Kamp Kiwanis and we'll see you on May 5.

Column Posted on Web Site April 22, 2012