The Summer Staff Challenge | Camp Crossroads

It was exactly one month ago today that we learned there would not be any overnight summer camps this year. This news was pretty discouraging.

But it was also four weeks ago today, that the 2012 Summer Team sent us a donation and then issued a gentle challenge on Facebook to other staff groups to do the same as a way to give practical support to camp during this difficult time. We were so encouraged by this display of gratitude and generosity.

In order to show our own gratitude for their support, we came up with a fun little Instagram/Facebook Story that included a celebratory ringing of the triangle at the dining hall. We also committed that if any other staff team had 6 or more people giving a donation (regardless of the dollar amount) we would ring the triangle and create an Instagram/Facebook Story in their honour. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we had no idea how spontaneous the response would be or how hard it would be to keep up with getting these stories posted!

At the time of this posting, there have been 115 different summer staff who have made donations for a total of $17, 195!

So far we’ve been able to ring the triangle and celebrate the gifts that have come from Summer Team 2012, Summer Team 2011, Leaders in Training (LIT) 2010, LIT 2015, Bridge Staff 2015 and LIT 2018. We haven’t even gotten to LIT 2017 and 2019 (but we will!). And there are other generous individuals who have given gifts as part of a staff team that has not yet reached 6 participants.

We’ve had donations from individuals as far back as Summer Team and LIT 1999. We’ve had donations from staff as young as 17. At the time of this posting, there have been 115 different summer staff who have made donations for a total of $17, 195! We are truly thankful for this generous financial support, but the thing that is most encouraging to us is that so many people were willing to come together as a camp community to support a place where they experienced positive life change and personal growth.

Keep in mind, these are mostly individuals who are finishing high school or starting university, or recently graduated from university and starting their careers or buying homes or starting a family. Some of those who gave are people we had hired to come here this summer who no longer have a job with us. We are humbled by these sacrificial gifts and can’t find the right words to say how proud we are of them all and how inspiring it is to see the Lord at work in this way. These people served sacrificially as camp staff and are supporting camp sacrificially now.

If you missed these Instagram Stories you can still find them on our IG profile @campcrossroads in the Summer Staff Challenge Highlights. Check it out if you want to be encouraged with some silly pictures of camp staff at their best.If you’re a former Camp Crossroads staff member or regular volunteer and want to get in on the fun, feel free to connect with your camp community and pass this gentle challenge along. Every dollar helps to cover fixed costs and enables us to make more improvements at camp. And we would love to keep digging through our archive of photos to find an Instagram Story that’s right for you!

And stay tuned for more great stories from past staff posted here in the coming weeks!