Boundary Co-op is a big believer in participation, and developing & strengthening leadership, communication and self-awareness skills. And sponsoring young people to attend Summer Camp is a great investment in the future of their organization and the development of the next generation.
Every year Boundary Co-op invests in the youth of their trading area through their summer camp program, where a portion of the registration fee is covered by Boundary Co-op funding.
"We had a record number of applicants this year,” shares Boundary Co-op Marketing Manager, Cheryl Rushing. “We had 48 kids who we sponsored this year and that would be a total investment of a little over $9000 where we helped with camp fees. So, lots of kids got to go to camp this year and we got to help out with that and take a little bit of that financial burden off the parents.”
Each summer, families submit applications for next year’s summer camp season with the Boundary Co-op Board having the entire fall and winter season to process hundreds of camp applications. Youth must have registered with a Manitoba accredited camp in order to qualify.
"So, a lot of the camp goers that we see go to places like Turtle Mountain Bible Camp, Camp Koinonia, and Camp Wannacumbac. We just want to support kids that want that camp experience in the summer and give a little bit of fun during the summer and help the parents out with that!"
This year the Board determined they would sponsor 50% of the camp fee costs for each of the 48 campers.
"Typically, that amount is about 40 to 50% of their camp fee," explains Rushing. "When they fill out the application, they provide proof of registration, and they pay their camp fee and then we reimburse them after because some kids go to camp at the end of June, early July and some go later in August. So, we find it's easier if they pay their fees and then we just reimburse a portion of that, in this case 50%."
Rushing says being able to sponsor close to 50 kids this year to go to summer camp is just what they do; build community through another one of their programs and sponsorships.
"It’s a big part of what we do, it’s a big part of our brand, it's a big part of our identity to support our communities and invest in our communities," she says. "We want to see our communities thrive and that’s the best way that we can support that initiative is by giving back, investing our time, investing products, whatever we can do to help our communities."