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2016 January/February Newsletter

January 17, 2016 by Sarah Camp Leave a Comment

Hello Unalayee Friends!

And hello 2016! It’s finally here which means we get to start planning and getting ready for summer! January is an exciting time for Camp Unalayee. Despite the fact that the Mosquito Lake Basin is covered in snow (see the photo to the right which was taken two weeks ago), there is a lot to do to get ready for summer camp.

Enrollments for our 2016 summer programs are rolling in, we are planning a number of events for prospective and returning campers to get excited about this summer, staff applications will become available at the end of the month, we’re soliciting donations for equipment, and we’ve even started laying out the training schedule for staff training.

I can’t wait to play with you or your camper in the wilderness this summer. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask if you have any questions about this upcoming summer and how you can be a part of it!

161 days and counting!

Sarah L Camp

2016 Enrollment is Open!

That’s right! It’s time to sign-up for summer camp! FINALLY! Enrollments have been rolling in since January 1st. Last year our programs started to fill on March 16th – so make sure you get in there and reserve a spot in your favorite program before they are gone. Pay your fees in full by March 1st and get our early bird discount – $200 off! Use the buttons below to see all the Rates & Dates for the summer and Enroll!

New Program: Summit-to-Summit!

We are ecstatic to announce our brand new program: Summit-to-Summit! This program is designed for dedicated backpackers, and maximizes the wilderness experience. Summit-to-Summit campers will head out on the trail on the day the buses arrive and spend the entire 15 days of the session out in the amazing wilderness areas that surround Camp Unalayee. Use the button below to learn more about this exciting new adventure and enroll today – space is limited!

Women’s Walkabout

Calling girls and young women who love the wilderness and sharing time with other women! We invite you to be part of our first ever Women’s Walkabout. During this 31-day program campers will spend 28 days on the trail, exploring areas that most CampU trips don’t have the time to get to and forming bonds with other women who love the outdoors. The Women’s Walkabout leaders are outdoor enthusiasts themselves, who are dedicated to creating a safe space for girls and young women to grow as outdoor leaders. Use the button below to learn more and enroll. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this special opportunity – we don’t know when we will offer this adventure again – and it’s already half full!

A TEDx Talk by a Unalayee Camper!

Evie Priestman, who attended Unalyaee’s family camp for several years, was selected to present a TEDx talk in his hometown of Arlington, VA. All of the speakers contributed something about how the community had helped them in some way — for Evie, it was the support of the Arlington Public Schools as he came out as a transgender individual. Evie’s presentation serves to remind us all how critical this kind of support can be for kids.

Host an Outreach Event

Were you unable to make a monetary donation to your favorite summer camp for kids this giving season, but still want to contribute? Or are you wondering what more you can do to help? Our members and volunteers work year round to make Unalayee the successful organization it is – we couldn’t do it without them – and you can help!

This time of year we are in full recruitment swing. You can host an outreach event in your local community to get more kids and families interested and enrolled in Camp Unalayee. Also, if you don’t think you are quite up to hosting an event there are many other outreach efforts you can assist with. Use the button below to learn how!

Photo Contest

What was that lake in the November/December Newsletter?

It was a really hard one… No one got it. Lower Sky High in the Marble Wilderness.

How about something a little closer to home this time? Where is this?

Be the first to e-mail friends@gocampu.com with the correct answer and we’ll send you a Unalayee water bottle!

2015 September/October Newsletter

September 20, 2015 by Sarah Camp Leave a Comment

End of Summer News:

Summer Survey
Photos, Photos
A New Tent – finished!
Photo Contest

Hello!

I’d like to start by saying that I am humbled by what an amazing summer camp community we have. We’ve officially ended the 2015 summer season, and thanks to our community – all of you – it was absolutely incredibly fun, adventurous, and wild!

Thank you to our staff who dedicated endless hours to the kids this summer.

Thank you to all the parents for being confident enough in our program to send your kids into the wilderness with us for two weeks.

Thank you to all the volunteers who came up through out the summer and lent a hand in the food shack, in an activity, or on a work project.

Thank you to our members who donated the funds which helped 121 kids attend camp this summer.

Thank you to our community members who got in the trenches during the off season and recruited all those 289 campers.

Thank you to our Board of Directors who put in those long hours to make sure our organization is professionally managed, always striving to improve ourselves, and staying true to our mission.

But most importantly of all – thank you to all of you amazing CAMPERS for being such fun, kind, respectful, adventurous, responsible, creative, inquisitive, cooperative, silly, confident, inclusive, and compassionate backpackers! Without you, there would be no Unalayee – you are what Camp is all about!

It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to summer, but it warms my heart knowing that next summer is only nine months away and I will get to spend it with this community which makes incredible things happen.

Starting the countdown til summer 2016 already…

Best,
Sarah Camp

We Need Your Feedback!

We were so pleased to have you or your camper up at Unalayee this summer – and now it’s time to tell us if you were pleased or not!

It’s advice from people like you that allows us to improve our programs each year and continue to provide the most safe and fun wilderness experience out there.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to fill out our summer 2015 survey and let us know what we did well and what we can improve on.

Please use the buttons below to access the survey for you – Parent Survey for parents of campers and Family Survey for Family Days.

We greatly appreciate and highly value any and all feedback or advice you are willing to give us. The survey is anonymous and every question is entirely optional. Thanks in advance!

Photos!

Have you checked out all the photos form this summer yet? NO? What are you waiting for? They are available for your viewing pleasure on Google+ and Facebook.

Do you have some great photos of your own from this summer that you’d like us to share with everyone else? Reply to this e-mail with them and we’ll put them up for everyone to enjoy!

A New Tent… Finished!

Last newsletter we let you know that our work crew would be building a new storm tent this summer and gave you a peek and the foundation… and now:

Just like that! Thank you Work Crew for all the hard work! Wanna see more photos? Check out the Facebook Album.

Photo Contest

Where was that crazy burn in the July/August Newsletter?

Granite Lake. Yep, that’s what the Coffee Fire of 2014 did.
Pretty crazy.

And now something a little more uplifting….

A not so revealing angle of a Unalayee favorite lake. Which one?

The Kuttner/Mason Campership Fund

April 28, 2015 by Sarah Camp Leave a Comment

Guy Kuttner

We are very happy to introduce this new campership fund in loving memory of Guy Kuttner and John “Moose” Mason.

For many years before their deaths, Guy and Moose met regularly with their friends Jud Ellinwood, Larry Fine, Jim Steinberg and John Triska.

Last year, to honor the memory of Guy and Moose and serve their love of high mountain wilderness, their commitment to environmental education, and their dedication as teachers, the four friends decided to set up a permanent scholarship fund to pay for all or part of a low-income inner city youngster’s cost for two weeks of outdoor experience at Camp Unalayee in the Trinity Mountains.

The official name of the fund is the Kuttner/Mason Camp Unalayee Scholarship Fund.

The purpose of the fund is to “”financially enable children from low income urban households to have the wilderness experiences provided by Camp Unalayee in the Trinity Mountains.”

The fund has two financial goals:

1. In the short-term, to fund one campership per year.

2. The parallel long-term goal is to build and grow a scholarship endowment fund that will be self-supporting.

Donations to the scholarship fund can be made two ways:

Send a check to the Humboldt Area Foundation (address the envelope to: HAF. 373 Indianola Road. Bayside, CA, 95524). Be sure to write “for Kuttner/Mason Camp Unalayee Scholarship Fund” on the check’s memo line in order for it to be deposited in the Fund account). Call Jim Steinberg at 707-825-6862 or Jud Ellinwood at 707-443-9153 to have a stamped and addressed return envelope mailed to you or get more information.

Online by credit card click on hafoundation.org/campunalayee

People interested in learning more about planned giving to the Kuttner/Mason Camp Unalayee Scholarship Fund are invited to call the Humboldt Area Foundation at 707-442-2993 and ask to speak with a Donor Relations team member.

Well, we have begun Daylight Saving Time, spring will officially begin in a less than a week, and the days are DEFINITELY getting longer – I’m starting to be able to imagine starting campfire at 9pm while it’s still light out! But of course what all of this means is that summer is now not far away – in fact, we only have about 100 days left till 1st session begins – our summer staff and I can’t wait!

As most of you know, we’ve been quite busy the last couple of months getting ready for camp – enrolling campers, hiring staff, renewing our lifeguard certifications, connecting with new communities, getting to know the coming summer’s campers and parents, and so much more. If you haven’t signed your camper up for camp this summer yet, do it NOW – we are almost full!

I’d also like to let you know that we will be offering camperships for Family Days this year – so if you know a family that hasn’t been able to attend in past years because of the cost, let them know that they can now apply for financial assistance and we would love to introduce their family to the wilderness.

It’s been a pleasure to connect with many of you over the phone, via e-mail, and at some of the events we’ve been at this winter. I hope to have the chance to re-connect and catch up with many of you at our fundraiser on April 19th. See you there!

Sincerely,

Sarah Camp

Announcing the 2015 Fundraiser!

We’re excited to announce that for this year’s fundraising event we’ve decided to mix it up a little! We’ve changed the venue, the schedule of events, and the style! But we are keeping the good friends, exciting prizes, and fun!We invite you to join us for a classy afternoon at Radonich Ranch in Los Gatos on April 19th, 2015. We will begin the afternoon’s activities with a Concert by Dancing on Strings, followed by a Silent Auction with many fantastic prizes accompanied by lip smacking hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and we’ll top off the event with our annual raffle drawing! Get all the details and RSVP on our event page.

Want to give our fundraiser a little boost? Help us get a prize donation! Read our How to Ask for Prize Donations Blog to learn how!

It’s Raffle Time!

Already have plans for April 19th and can’t make it to the fundraiser? We’ll miss you, but you can still participate in the fun! Grab some online tickets for our annual raffle and it’ll almost be like you are there.Not only will you help to support the important work we do of providing a wilderness backpacking summer camp experience to low-income children, you will also have the chance to win these great prizes:

Google Chromebook
16GB Ipad 2
Family Days 2015 Registration for one adult and one child

Use the button below to get your totally GREEN online tickets today. No need to be present to win!

In Memorial

Longtime Camp Unalayee supporter, Marjorie Larsen, passed away last September in her home of 64 years, in Palo Alto, at the age of 98. Marjorie dedicated her life to her family and a tradition of volunteerism. She spent many years at her church and at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital Auxiliary. One of her contributions was knitting tiny cotton hats for the preemie babies in the neo-natal unit at Stanford Hospital. She always had time for others.

She first sent her son, Wade, to Camp in 1962 and he attended every Summer through 1966. He then worked as a counselor and waterfront director in the 1980’s. He also served on the Board of Directors for several years. After a career in advertising in the Bay Area, Wade moved with his family to Yosemite National Park to be a mountain and ski guide and historic preservationist. In the late 2000’s, Wade moved back to Palo Alto to care for his Mom. At this time he again served on the Board of Directors.

Wade has continued to support Camp financially and by volunteering for Camp opening and special events over the years. “Camp Unalayee put me on a path that I continue to follow. It will always be in my heart and mind”. When he asked his Mom in her last years, why she sent him to Camp in the first place, she just smiled and said “I thought it would be good for you”.

Girls Getaway Returns!

Last year we took a break from our very popular trail tribe option designed especially for girls, but this year we are happy to report that Girls Getaway is back!This special 11-day back country trip is designed to empower today’s girls to grow into successful independent women. We’ve found that the experience of living in the wilderness and learning to work and communicate with other girls builds confidence in young women like nothing else. Learn more about this program, including the dates, the leaders, and how to enroll on our 2015 Girls Getaway Page.

This summer’s program is full – but you can still put your name on the wait list, enrollments do change!

Photo Contest

We had lots of campers who knew exactly which lake, disguised by a little snow cover, was featured in last newsletter’s photo contest.The answer: Log Lake! A true Unalayee favorite.But hey, it’s almost spring… let’s ditch the snow! Which lake is this?

As always, email friends@gocampu.com first with the correct answer and we’ll send you a tote bag!