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Our club sponsors a cabin at the YMCA's Camp Child located about 30 minutes from Helena. Camp Child hosted RYLA for many years before RYLA was moved to its current location to provide capacity for more students.
Our cabin needs 16 new mattresses for its bunk beds, a new propane heater, fresh paint on the concrete floor, and a new porch cover in front of the cabin. Each year 6-8 members of our club clean and perform maintenance for the cabin in May, prior to the camping season. Each member spends 4-8 hours on the project. This year, since we need to rebuild the porch cover, additional time will be required. We will order the mattresses and the new heater as soon as the grant allows. We will rebuild the porch cover during the summer at a time when the cabin is not in use. Cabin maintenance will occur in May 2018 and again in May 2019.
The mattresses are quite old and must be replaced. Heat is needed since the camp is located in the mountains at high altitude and mornings and evenings can be cold. The porch cover will provide a suitable gathering place for cabin residents. Mattresses will cost $1,533, the heater $1,288, and porch materials $400.
Camp Child typically has about 200 campers ages 7-15. High school students volunteer as junior counselors. Last year $13,000 in scholarships was awarded to low income kids to allow them to enjoy the camp experience. Camp Child provides a safe place for kids to be themselves while trying new things, making friends, and enjoying the great Montana outdoors. In the semi-independent environment of camp, kids learn a lot about themselves. They also experience team participation with the zip line, the ropes course, canoeing and other activities. They choose their own clothes, decide how much or how little they will groom themselves, and they figure out how to eat what is served at meals.
In addition, about 300 other adults and children experience Camp Child each year through rentals. Church and family camps, Asthma Camp, and other groups benefit from use of the Rotary cabin. The Rotary cabin is the largest at Camp Child and it is the most frequently used cabin.
Maintaining the Rotary cabin at Camp Child is one of the most fun projects our club does. Participants comment that they want to participate again the next year. We all understand that the camp is a significant community asset that permits kids an experience they may not otherwise have in Montana's outdoors.
I will also send pictures that further explain Camp Child's activities. Pictures also include the inside of the Rotary cabin and show the bunk beds that need new mattresses and the heater that needs to be replaced.
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