Attitude of Gratitude
We’re nearing the conclusion of 2022 and many people are beginning to think about end of year charitable gifts – today is Giving Tuesday, if you subscribe to such things – and we’re reaching out to ask you to support Project:Camp’s mission to help ensure children and families are taken care of during disasters.
Our goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of the year in order to continue our work in 2023. We know that we have to keep expanding our capacity so that we can be there for more children when disaster strikes. One of the biggest takeaways from our camp in Florida in response to Hurricane Ian was that the need for childcare far outstripped our current staffing levels.
As part of this campaign, we are also hoping to grow the roster of monthly donors who contribute to Project:Camp. One of our biggest challenges is ensuring our work is sustainable and having a reliable stream of donations gives us some semblance of certainty in uncertain times. If you can give us $5, $10, or even $25 a month that makes a world of difference in how we’re able to plan and prepare.
We know there are myriad options available when it comes to charitable giving, and we feel immense responsibility to make sure your donations go toward making children's lives appreciably better during some of the most trying times they will face.
When we talk about what we’re grateful for in our Gratitude Circles at camp, it’s about reframing children's experiences during a disaster. Expressing gratitude – even for the most inconsequential things – helps them realize there can be moments of beauty and joy during challenging times.
That’s part of why I end each of these emails by expressing my gratitude to you. It may seem perfunctory, but this expression is more than a passing “thank you” for reading. Gratitude is something that is an integral part of the Project:Camp culture – there’s a reason we have both a Grati-turtle and a Grati-toad as our semi-official mascots.
We’re entering this giving season with a particularly profound sense of gratitude. This year has challenged everyone in the Project:Camp family deeply. But persevering through adversity has led us to some remarkable places – and allowed us to provide meaningful care for children across the country.
Through the end of November, we’ve already provided more than 7,000 hours of free, trauma-informed camp. That’s almost triple the number of hours we spent helping kids process disasters in 2021. Similarly we helped facilitate nearly 2,000 volunteer hours, almost double the number we had last year. We spent time in three states and responded to one of the most devastating storms, Hurricane Ian, to ever hit the United States.
We’re very grateful to all the individuals and organizations that have made this work possible over the past year. None of this would be possible without the generosity and support from you all.
With gratitude,
Mikey
Bulletin Board
We can't kick off the 2022 giving season without shouting out some of our most-ardent supporters. We’ve been lucky enough to receive support this year from an amazing array of entities, including the California Fire Foundation, the California Community Foundation, North Valley Community Foundation, World Central Kitchen, United Way of Northern California, Clif Bar Family Foundation, the Ford Family Foundation, Airlink, California Office of Emergency Services, the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Save the Children, Walt Disney World Resorts, Airbnb.org, and most-recently Blue Cross of California. Thank you to everyone involved who helped make camp happen!
We also want to give a special thanks to The Resiliency Initiative for hosting a gathering for Project:Camp at this year’s International Association of Emergency Managers Conference in Savannah, Georgia earlier this month. It was an amazing evening with an amazing group of people who we are excited to work with and learn from in the coming months and years. Thank you to The Resiliency Initiatives’ President and CEO Andrea Davis and Executive Director – and Project:Camp Board Chair – Lorraine Schneider for putting everything together.
Speaking of the IAEM Conference, we had the privilege of presenting for a packed house in Savannah on Project:Camp’s efforts to reimagine disaster response with children and families in mind. We had a lively discussion session after the presentation and want to thank everyone who came out and participated. Already looking forward to next year’s conference!
