BUILD A BETTER TOMORROW
Frost Valley Life Strengthening a Foundation of Giving | WINTER 2014 FROST VALLEY YMCA
| frostvalley.org
STRENGTHENING A FOUNDATION OF GIVING FROM THE DESK OF JERRY HUNCOSKY CEO | Frost Valley YMCA The words “Build Strong” will forever be synonymous with Frost Valley YMCA. And after an incredible year of growth, I can’t help but reflect on how we built the strength to be where we are today—a camp rooted in tradition as well as consistently developing with an ever-changing world. How do we continue to persevere in our mission and grow stronger with each new season? Where does that strength come from? And how do we stay strong?
So as you read the following pages and consider the individuals whose lives have changed here—many of whom have decided to give back to Frost Valley in their own unique ways and help change the lives of others—I invite you to reflect on how you’ve provided an integral part of what makes Frost Valley so strong. Thank you for your role in strengthening the foundation of generous giving our camp is built upon.
My first thought is of our campers and guests. The children who swim in our lake, the families that play games together in our fields, and the students who study our rich ecology are the building blocks of Frost Valley YMCA. They provide the inspiration necessary to expand our programming, continuously improve our facilities, and excel as professionals in the camping field. After all, these individuals are the reason for what we do. And of course our staff and volunteers play a valuable role, too. Their dedication to not only serving every person who comes onto our camp but also their commitment to making Frost Valley better and better each day is humbling. These men and women are the mortar that holds Frost Valley YMCA together. None of this could be possible without a solid foundation. Our camp is so fortunate to be built on a foundation supported by our donors. Individuals just like you have provided us with the groundwork—the resources—to change lives every day. Without the firm footing that you supply us, none of what we do and where we are today would be possible.
2013 IN REVIEW January
February
March
For the second year in a row, Frost Valley hosts the annual Northeast YMCA Camp Conference, which brought 215 professionals in the Y Camping movement together to learn, grow, and connect.
Frost Valley instructors visit Centereach High School in Long Island to deliver our “No Room for Bullying!” program that incorporates our 8 core values to help prevent bullying.
Our 10th Annual Women’s Wellness Weekend gives 116 women the chance to relax, rejuvenate and reconnect through programs like yoga, pottery, art, journaling, and more.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIRMAN R. Fenn Putman PRESIDENT James S. Vaughan CEO Jerry Huncosky VICE CHAIRMAN Robert B. Haines
BUILDING A LEGACY THE BLUM CENTER, A PLACE FOR COMMUNITY
TREASURER Peter E. Sundman
From Junior Counselor in 1986 to last year’s Volunteer of the Year Award winner, Eric Blum built a legacy for all Frost Valley YMCA staff and volunteers. His can-do, never-give-up attitude can be heard in his motto, “We improvise. We adjust. We overcome.” When Eric passed last year, the mourning of such a significant loss was felt across camp. The lives he touched here were countless and the impact he had on our camp, our traditions, and our outlook is permanent. Memorializing such a profound legacy will not be easy. With his motto in our hearts, we honor his meaningful impact, by renaming our annual Volunteer of the Year Award in his memory – the Eric Blum Volunteer of the Year Award. This is an award reserved for the most altruistic and compassionate volunteer at Frost Valley, and we cannot think of a better namesake than Eric Blum. Eric believed in the mission and values of Frost Valley, and with that in mind he generously included Frost Valley in his estate plans. Through
April We host our very first Autism Family Support weekend, which gives families affected by autism the chance to enjoy traditional Frost Valley activities and meet others who share their experience.
his planned gift, Eric’s legacy will be felt each time someone walks through the doors of our upcoming Blum Center, of which construction is planned to start later this year. This new building will provide a community space for our program staff to connect with family back home, spend time relaxing with one another playing games, or simply cozy up with a good book on the outside patio. Our campers and families, whether they knew Eric or not, have surely felt his impact. Our staff’s philosophy of “no request is too small” is in many ways thanks to Eric Blum. We know that the Blum Center will embody this outlook as a place where staff can come together and unwind after a long day of delivering the highest quality programming and youth development opportunities to our campers and guests.
May
June
Our last Girl Scouts visit us for the spring season, and by year’s end we will have seen over 2,000 Boy and Girl Scouts.
Summer camp opens for another year of Hoopla, Olympix, Ultimate Sicko Ball, and Geronimo. By the end of the summer, we host 2,734 campers.
SECRETARY Jerold W. Dorfman VICE PRESIDENTS Professor Al Filreis Catherine M. Harvey Judith L. Pasnik Peter E. Sundman TRUSTEES William E. Baker Dr. R. Mark Ghobrial Ted B. Hilton Dr. Frederick J. Kaskel Jeffrey S. Kaufman James Kellogg Jr. Michael D. Ketcham Michael P. Lahue Robert Lomauro Robert Messick John O’Brien Cheng Ong Barbara Spitz Robin Wachenfeld Mary T. Wheeler Shigeko Woolfalk ADVISORY COMMITTEE William H. Abbott Mitchell Brock H. Corbin Day Barton C. English Thomas M. Moriarty TRUSTEES EMERITI Thomas W. Berry Hunter Corbin Helen M. Geyer Co-Director
Paul B. Guenther Dr. George J. Hill James C. Kellogg Co-Director
W. Thomas Margetts Gerald H. McGinley
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BUILDING A CULTURE OF GENEROSITY HOW ONE Y-GUIDE LINDSAY HUTCHINSON FAMILY CHOSE TO GIVE BACK
At only 16 years old, David Capriotti is a very mature and compassionate young man. Nearly every year since he was 5 years old, David, his younger brother, and his father, have come to Frost Valley YMCA for a weekend of taking on new adventures, bonding as a family, and making lifelong memories. Through their local Y-Guide program, the Capriotti men have carried out this tradition for practically a decade, and recently David decided to pay it forward, giving other children and families similar opportunities. As a paintball enthusiast, David not only wanted to give back, but he wanted to join his two passions—Frost Valley YMCA and paintball. David independently planned a paintball fundraising event in support of Project 332, which raises money to help provide camperships to children who cannot otherwise come to camp. David was astonished as ticket sales began to soar! On the day of the event, 86 kids participated in a day of paintball, food, and fun, raising $2,000 so other children can have the kind of experiences that were so vital to David’s own childhood. Keeping that sentiment in mind, David is already thinking about how he can get even more people to come out to the event next year. With a humble smile and the fresh excitement of youth, David simply says, “It just makes me feel really great.”
ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR & WRITER Within only a few months time, Lindsay Hutchinson quickly felt the magic of Frost Valley YMCA. After working here for less than a year, first as the Assistant Director of Farm Camp and then as a Program Instructor this past fall, Lindsay self-published a picture book entitled The Lucky Ones. Feeling as though her closest friends were the four leaf clovers in her life, Lindsay says “I found over 20 four-leaf clovers on the farm, which is when I started to brainstorm for the book. It parallels how we are surrounded by great things and we don’t need to go looking for happiness, but we can see it all around us.” When she considered what to do with the proceeds of the book sales, the decision was easy. She says, “I think donating to Project 332 was just something that I had to do. I didn’t even really think about it. Camp, especially Frost Valley, is something that I am so passionate about, and knowing that we are giving this amazing opportunity to children that may not be able to experience it otherwise is something I am even more passion about.” To find out more about Lindsay’s book, look for our recent post on our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/FrostValleyYMCA
2013 IN REVIEW July The first campers move into our new canvas platform tents as well as our six new lean-tos. By the end of summer 2013, 96 Adventure Village campers enjoy the new tents, while almost 600 campers (including Adventure Trips campers and resident campers) sleep beneath the stars and commiserate around campfires at the new lean-tos.
August Through the generosity of our donors, over 500 children are able to come to camp thanks to Project 332.
September During our last LIVESTRONG Weekend of the year, Frost Valley hosts over 50 cancer survivors and their loved ones – our biggest LIVESTRONG weekend yet!
NADIA UDDIN
BRENDAN HELDENFELS
Inspired by the influence Frost Valley’s Kidney Camp had over her own life and then watching it happen again for younger campers when she was a Counselor-in-Training (CiT) last summer, Nadia began leading her own fundraising efforts to give other children a traditional camp experience, regardless of financial or medical limitations. Five years ago, Nadia’s doctors suggested she come to Frost Valley YMCA’s Kidney Camp. As a kidney transplant recipient, Nadia’s options for how to spend her summers were very limited. When she joined us for the first time, she remembers the biggest impact was how accepting and inclusive Frost Valley is. At camp, Nadia felt she truly belonged. Other girls sought her out, told her she was funny and that they were glad to have her as a friend. But perhaps most profound for Nadia, was that she really believed them. Now 16, Nadia just completed her first summer on the other side of the campfire, as a Counselor-in-Training (CiT). And now she’s raising money for Project 332 by organizing bake sales at school, selling handmade bracelets, and even opening her own fundraising page on fundly.com. Nadia says, “This is just one way I can help other kids.”
During his time working here (from 2007-2009), Brendan Heldenfels was committed to helping out and supporting Frost Valley in any way that he could. As a program instructor he had a passion for environmental education, but he also helped out at the front desk, taught multi-media classes, and even contributed his talented writing abilities to Frost Valley Life! Knowing both the hard work involved in the life of a program instructor (or “P.I.”) and also seeing firsthand the impact Frost Valley has on a child, even years later, Brendan has found a way to pay homage to his “P.I.” roots. When Brendan married his wife Stephanie last August, they wanted to give their wedding guests a gift they could feel good about. He says, “We wanted to give them something that would have more meaning than a $10 memento. We discussed donating to a variety of causes in lieu of favors, but always came back to the idea of donating to Frost Valley.” Brendan has designated half of his generous gift to go toward summer camperships and the other half to go toward supporting the program staff. He says, “In a lot of ways, the program staff are the unsung heroes of the Valley. They’re required to do many different things and teach under a variety of conditions. It’s my hope that our donations is a balm to the P.I.s during the cold winter.”
2013 SCHOLARSHIPS
COUNSELOR-IN-TRAINING
FORMER PROGRAM INSTRUCTOR
SUMMER PROGRAM
CAMPERS
SCHOLARSHIPS
Resident Camp
218
$239,980.00
Newark Partnerships
143
Kidney Camp
21
$252,036.00 $33,400.00
Farm Camp
18
$20,357.00
Adventure Camp
40
$52,555.00
Equestrian
20
$29,168.00
East Valley Ranch
17
$29,072.00
Day Camp
110
$26,460.00
TOTALS
587
$683,028.00
4%
35%
30%
8%
5% 4% 4% 3%
October
November
December
Frost Valley YMCA begins discussions with the Bear Grylls Survival Academy (BGSA) and partners to be the home of BGSA’s first parent-child, survival overnight experience in the United States. The event is a successful bonding experience for the families who participated, and Frost Valley is scheduled to partner for another event this May!
Our School Programs department continues to provide outdoor education, teambuilding, and environmental classes. In 2013, over 190 schools and more than 13,000 children visit Frost Valley.
By the end of this year, Frost Valley YMCA saw over 35,000 guests and campers. Many thanks to our donors who contributed to over $950,000 raised in Annual Support.
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FROST VALLEY YMCA 2000 Frost Valley Road Claryville, NY 12725
TEL (845) 985-2291 EMAIL info@frostvalley.org WEB frostvalley.org/donate facebook.com/frostvalleyymca
BUILDING BRIGHTER FUTURES With our commitment to helping prevent summer learning loss for the thousands of children who join us each summer, we emphasize the importance of literacy at camp. Through a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Frost Valley purchased 143 new books to expand our collection. Counselors read to our youngest Day Campers five days a week last summer for a total of 1,505 hours. “We are passionate about our mission of serving others throughout the communities we serve,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s Chairman and CEO. “It’s exciting to see the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s outreach in action as we partner with organizations to further education and literacy and make a real difference in people’s lives.” Many thanks to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for supporting our commitment to youth development and literacy.
Frost Valley YMCA is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to put Judeo/Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. We raise funds throughout the year for camperships that cover the costs of camp for children who would not otherwise be able to attend. To help us give the gift of camp to children, families and students, please contact our Development Office at 845-985-2291 or email development@frostvalley.org. To donate online go to www.frostvalley.org/donate Let us know if you prefer to receive Frost Valley Life via an online link sent to your email address. Please email us your request to info@frostvalley.org and sign up for the e-newsletter!