Help Kids Impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton
We’re on the ground in Western North Carolina running camp for families impacted by Hurricane Helene, which carved a wide path of destruction through the heart of Appalachia.
The need here is some of the greatest we’ve seen – whole towns are still without water and power, and schools and other childcare systems are struggling to reopen. We’ve partnered with local youth mental health collaborative TC Strong to run a camp in Brevard, NC out of the local Boys and Girls Club, and are working to set up other camps in the region to help meet the needs of children and families struggling to get back on their feet.
As always, camp has been a healing place for both kids and families – and helped bring the community back together. We’ve heard from our campers about their experiences during the storm, listened as volunteers processed their collective grief together, and seen the stress melt off children and adults alike.
The joy and relief we feel being here is tempered as we're already staring down the next named storm of the season, Hurricane Milton, which is heading directly toward Tampa, FL.
Coming barely two weeks after Helene, Milton is stretching disaster response networks to their limit – including ours. While we have the ability to run multiple camps simultaneously, we are limited due to financial constraints. Project:Camp only works if we can hire really smart, really capable, and really adaptive people who can deploy our program into all the communities that need them during these massive storms.
As these large disasters become more frequent and more severe, we’re running into the limits of what we can do with our small team. So we’re asking today if you can help us out by making a tax deductible contribution to help us help families and children impacted by these storms – and the future storms that are inevitably going to hit communities across the county. Your donation goes directly toward ensuring we have the staff to serve more communities in more places, and provides support for children during some of their most challenging days.
We know that there are many, many deserving organizations out there and we appreciate any and all contributions you are able to make.
With gratitude,
Mikey
Bulletin Board
Huge congratulations to our superstar Seasonal Director Mark “Newt” Andreoni who married the love of his life, Pollock Queen Emma Scalisi. Mark and Emma met at Catalina Sea Camp in 2018 and we could not be more excited for them. Camp!
Another huge congratulations to our Director of External Affairs Henry “Doesn’t Have a Cool Nickname” Meier, who finally put a ring on the finger of the love of his life, the Bayou Bandit herself, Miss Jordan Elizabeth Cosmique. They are excited to get married next year during what will inevitably be the busiest disaster weekend of the season.
