As the days begin to get longer and we hit February many have started to ask about what summer at Kadesh might look like… and to be honest we still have lots of questions ourselves.
Here is what we know and are planning:
Currently overnight camps are still not allowed under Saskatchewan Health guidelines. Camp Kadesh is working with the Saskatchewan Camps Association (SCA) on advocacy. The SCA presented possible guidelines to the government for the safe operation of summer overnight camps for summer 2021. We are waiting for the government to give feedback or approval.
If guidelines are accepted we know it will be with a reduced number of campers that we can have on site. The proposed guidelines suggest the use of “cohorts” to keep groups of campers together and will limit the number of total campers we can have on site this summer to about 50. Unfortunately we are limited in real planning that can be done until we have approved guidelines from the government.
Will we run family weekends again?
Family weekends were great last summer. Feedback was that it was such an awesome time and most families expressed hope that we would do it again. Family Weekends will continue to be our alternative programming if we can’t run overnight kids camps in summer. That being said, it is our plan to try and have a number of weekends available in June for families to enjoy Camp Kadesh. We will release details soon on that. (Join our newsletter below to stay in the loop)
When will registration be announced?
Currently the majority of Camp Kadesh full time staff are still laid off. Planning summer weeks and hiring seasonal staff all depend on the key staff being back to work. Currently we are simply waiting to see what happens with guidelines. At some point we will have to plan for what we know, but we have not set any kind of final date at this time.
Is there anything that can be done to help?
First, we believe that God is always working in the things going on in our world. We don’t always know the why, but we trust there is good. Please pray for the government making decisions. We think that camp running would be a good idea, but their job is to keep people safe.
Second, most of our decisions right now are financial ones. Without clear knowledge of what we can run this summer and moving forward it is not prudent to hire staff back. If you are in a position to support Kadesh financially that would allow us some flexibility of operations dollars that are not tied to summer fee revenue. Normally expenses now would be covered by summer revenue, so if we run now with donated funds, that money would be reallocated back into Camp Kadesh. You can find out how to donate here:
Finally, if you think it’s important that summer camps run this summer you can contact your MLA. We have a whole page on how to do that. Express to them that Camp Kadesh and summer camp is important to you.
Thanks for all your support of Camp Kadesh. Know that we want to see camp happen as much as everyone. You have our commitment that we’ll be ready when we get the opportunity to run.
