Main fundraiser photo

Keep Camp's Fire Burning!

As you may have heard, due to the situation surrounding COVID-19, we recently made the very hard decision to postpone Camp Lookout, Camp Carvela and Crystalaire Adventures until Summer 2021

We know this is heartbreaking to many of you and we feel the sadness with you and for our campers. During this time of social distancing, we think about them the most, knowing how much they rely on camp for “social connecting”! 

If camp is going to survive, we can’t do it just from the support of current camp families alone. We need help from all of you, who we consider to be our camp family.

What does this mean for camp?

In addition to the sadness of missing out on creating a summer full of new memories, this situation has already become a financial challenge for us. As a small, family-owned camp, we will not survive until next summer without your help. Even without running camp, we are still responsible for 65% of our normal annual expenses, including things like utilities, lease, property taxes, insurance, permits, and licensing fees, full-time staff, and basic site maintenance. We have reduced our budget to the absolute minimum, applied for federal assistance, and are working with outside partners to defer as many costs as possible. The survival of camp cannot rest on cutting costs or the shoulders of current camp families and thus we have set up this campaign.

If any of our programs hold a special place in your heart- Lookout, Carvela or Crystalaire, please help support us by contributing to our GoFundMe campaign and passing this email on to anyone who would like this update about the summer or may be willing to contribute.

We recognize that our families have varying financial needs and circumstances, especially in these extraordinary times, if you are able to contribute, any amount will be appreciated. 

We will use the money raised from this campaign and the money gifted to us by our current camper families to get us through until registration opens in September. Anything raised over-and-above our current needs will be used to support our camp’s scholarship fund and/or build a new cabin that will ensure we have bunk space available for scholarship campers in the future.

If you’re here, you must have or know someone who has found camp to be a positive, life-changing experience. For many, camp is a place to grow as an individual, gain self-confidence, make meaningful connections, and be a part of a supportive community. For many, that community becomes a family. All this happens during such a formative time in a camper’s adolescents that the positive impacts on our camper’s development are hard to measure. Our philosophy and approach are resonating and all of our programs are growing, even as others struggle.  

For many years Camp Lookout’s sessions have been run at capacity with long waitlists, impacting over 450 campers each summer. It is this popularity that allowed us to, in 2018, expand to a 2nd summer campsite - Camp Carvela in Traverse City, MI. 2020 was going to be Camp Carvela’s third summer and when registration came to a screeching halt in early March, we already had over 140 campers registered for this summer’s program. Crystalaire Adventures, now operating out of Camp Carvela, has also seen a lot of growth over the past several years. It has grown into the Midwest's largest independent youth wilderness tripping program impacting nearly 200 participants annually, in locations throughout the Midwest.  

We truly value the impact that we’ve had on our community and the way that our community has grown and helped each member in the process.  We are proud of the impact we've had in the lives of campers, and the positive impact they have had on each other.

Have a look, here are a few videos:

Camp Lookout 
Camp Carvela 
Crystalaire Adventures 

Looking Ahead!

While we will not physically open camp this year, we remain committed to providing meaningful and impactful experiences for our campers. We will use our summer energy to look into the new needs of our community and try to develop programming that, although different, still brings campers together in a safe and supportive environment. As we work in this new reality, we would love to hear ideas from you and your campers about how we can help. 

We can’t imagine losing the memories of one canceled summer, let alone forever. If you are able, please consider contributing to this GoFundMe to help keep Camp’s fire burning for years to come. If we can get through this, even in the face of our new reality, camp will be stronger and ready to provide our campers life-changing experiences. 

Thank you in advance and thank you to everyone who has been a part of the camp community over the years! 

Your Hopeful Team,
Curtis McFall
Charlie Burnett
Morgan Hassall
Macayla Lyon
Tanner Ruegg
Donate

Donations 

  • Blair West
    • $100 
    • 3 yrs
  • Anna Trawick
    • $100 
    • 3 yrs
  • Nicholas Gottschlich
    • $47 
    • 3 yrs
  • Jeremy Lapedis
    • $300 
    • 4 yrs
  • Sarah Ziker
    • $135 
    • 4 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Camp Lookout
Organizer
Frankfort, MI

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