February 2019
February, the month associated with Love. I love my job and the company and the people I work with. That does not mean that every day is easy, but when you love something you hang on through the tough days and the good days.
The best part of the job is seeing the faces of the participants of our programs and the residents of our residential settings. These faces show the joy in the care they receive. In summer I have the opportunity to head up to Pioneer Resources camp on Big Blue Lake and visit the Day Camp. When you want to see smiles this is the place to be! Those children and young adults are experiencing the best days! They have the opportunity to swim, to do art, music, crafts, take pontoon boat rides and enjoy time with their friends.
Day Camp has been funded in portion by the school systems for 25 years. We received some difficult news last year. We were informed that the $25,000 that partially supported Day Camp funding would no longer be there. It is in the moments like this when the job I love feels like a heavy weight in my stomach with the thought of telling those campers, staff and the parents that we cannot maintain this service without this funding.
Rather than take this as defeat, I chose to see it as a challenge. How can Pioneer Resources seek to maintain this camp? The camp provides accessibility that other camps do not have. Day camp provides a level of staffing to meet the higher level of needs these campers have. We have a challenge to maintain something we love. Day Camp is loved by many and our goal is to raise the funds to support this camp as well as sustain this camp for years to come.
One way in which to raise these funds is through the support of our community. I want to ask you to support our camp through whatever level you can afford. Find at this link https://www.pioneerresources.org/give/ a way for you to provide the help that can offer smiles, promote friendships and give a camper the gift of summer camp that they are not able to experience at other camps.
Show your love this month by donating to Day Camp. Talk to your spouse and ask if instead of a Valentine’s Day gift for each other or a fancy dinner out you could agree to donate to Day Camp and show your love to a camper!
I hope that your month is full of love and happiness,
Jill
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