The 2014 Kamping season is under way and it looks like it’s going to be a great one. Last Kamping season we felt the effects of Super Strom Sandy and we suffered with reduced kamperships.
Clubs, especially in the downstate area, had a lot to deal with in their communities and to their credit they did phenomenal projects to help out the victims. I applaud all of them. So if it meant helping a victim or send a child to Kamp, I totally understand their choice.
This year however, we have had a great response to our request for children; our enrollment in the Kamp to date has been overwhelmingly greater than last year at the same time. Kiwanians all over the state are responding to our fund raisers, wish list items and just an overall willingness to help in any way they can.
At our annual meeting in September of 2013, we made some adjustment to our tuition fee and busing fee. After a careful review of our finances we confirmed that the actual cost to send a child to Kamp Kiwanis is approximately $800. Our mission as a board has always been to underwrite the delta between what we charge and what it costs, however rising costs in all the overhead item such as, gas, electricity, insurance, repairs from the hard winters, normal maintenance and all other costs that are germane in keeping the Kamp what it is today, made it almost impossible to do. We have a “Brick & Mortar” entity and those costs are there no matter what the attendance is.
Our fee for Kampers in now $600 but we decided to ask clubs if they wish to, on a voluntary basis, pay the full amount. Once again the Metropolitan Division came through with a great many clubs deciding to pay us the full amount for their kampers. Clubs like the Staten Island Club that sent 14 children at the full amount, clubs like the North Central Club that not only sent 30 children but they paid substantially more than the minimum fee, and other clubs that did the same. On behalf of all of us at the New York District Kiwanis Foundation, I offer my sincere gratitude to all those clubs and individuals for your generous and kind help.
There’s a few people that I would like to recognize and give thanks to. First. I would like to thank David Vail for deciding to come on board as our finance chair. Since the sudden and unfortunate loss of Distinguished Past Gov. Jim Yochum, we have been trying to find a Kiwanian with accounting skills to come on board and help us. We had a few prospects but withdrew realizing the time commitment needed to perform the tasks at hand. As one who tried to do that particular function for the foundation, I can tell you that it is a very large commitment in time, and Dave understood it, committed to it and has been a great addition to our board.
Another person I would like to recognize is our very own Executive Director Rebecca Lopez Clemence. During this past year we have had some major hurdles to overcome in many ways. Rebecca has been there making personal sacrifices for the sake of the Kamp to make sure that we overcome those hurdles. She always does whatever is asked and many times gone above and beyond our requests never looking for recognition. We are truly lucky to have her as our executive director and I, for one, truly appreciate her talents and her dedication to Kamp Kiwanis.
My last thank you in this article is to a few people. Sometimes help come to you unexpectedly, A few weeks ago I received a call from a Penny Santo from P.S. 105. It seems that she enrolled the help of Michelle Ferraro from P.S. 204 and together they gave all of their students a copy of the Kamp’s wish list and asked them to see what they can donate from that wish list. Michelle, who happens to be my home club secretary’s wife, was aware of Kamp Kiwanis as well. So together they set up drop boxes at their respective schools and low and behold they filled up approximately 16 boxes of items from our wish list. This was a pleasant surprise and I am told by Rebecca that everything was very much needed and will certainly be used in our camping season. I want to express my thanks and gratitude to Penny and Michelle and all of the students at P.S. 105 and P.S. 204 for thinking of the Kamp and for their wonderful donation. Oh by the way, they also collected $375 for the Kamp. On behalf of all of us at the New York District Kiwanis Foundation and Kamp Kiwanis, we thank you.
Column Posted on Web Site July 26, 2014
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