New Tent-Cabins

We wanted to take a moment to update everyone on the Tent to Cabin Conversion Campaign that took place last fall. Many of you may have seen the incredible changes when dropping campers off this summer, but we want to share this news with everyone! Thank you to those who donated - you will be receiving a thank you letter and your incentive gifts within the next week.

With the nearly $40,000 contributed, along with a loan from the Presbytery of Olympia, we were able to remodel four of our platform tents into cabins with sides made of heavy-duty reinforced vinyl, and a wooden front with a real door. The new tent-cabins keep the insects out and will be able to be heated in the fall and spring months, allowing us to expand our capacity. Converting the tents into cabins created a higher ceiling which gives a positive feeling of more space. New bunk beds finished off the remodel, allowing them to comfortably sleep twelve people instead of ten, with room to spare for a table in the middle!

Summer campers and their families raved over the new cabins. Counselors and campers enjoyed playing cards at the tables and hanging out on the porches on hot days. These new porches also allowed a place for staff to sit outside with homesick campers in the evening, so as not to disturb the rest of the cabin. The family campers, retreat groups, and schools that have used the new cabins so far love them, and are looking forward to a time when we will have all of the cabins remodeled!

Thanks again for your support of Sound View as we work on building capacity and improving our facilities. Your donations help keep us financially sustainable and able to serve more young people for years into the future.

Our GivingTuesday Video

It was a dark, stormy night at Sound View. But we had fun anyways on the Calvinwood porch trying to convince folks to give to our #tentstocabins #SV404040 campaign.

November 15 Appeal

Hi Everyone!

So much is happening at Sound View right now - it is so hard to keep up. The past two years for me as the camp director has been a whirlwind of facilitating growth, re-visioning what we do, and truly loving the look in the eyes of campers and guests as they play, worship, and rejoice where God's creation abounds.

Sound View is truly a special, sacred place which has changed lives.

Right now we have to create at least forty year-round beds by April 1st. We have school children coming in early spring for outdoor environmental education and their numbers exceed our 'warm' sleeping capacity.  Opening up camp on weekdays, year-round, is the best way for us to stay missional and expose kids to God's wonders.  It is the best way to reach out to kids who may want to come to summer camp to learn more about themselves, Christ's love, amidst a caring community. 

We are raising funds to convert at least four of the platform tents into real cabins with windows, doors, new bunks, and plenty of natural light..  Each new cabin will sleep ten.  We need your help to reach our goal of $40,000 to make this happen.  

You can read more about the campaign, view videos, discover incentives for giving, note our compelling arguments for doing this and make your pledge/gift by clicking HERE.

Our campaign ends on #GivingTuesday - November 27.  Please be generous with a gift or pledge towards our goal to make Sound View a place that changes kids' lives all four seasons.

Blessings and Peace,

Kurt Sample
Camp Director

More than Enough

I am attending the PCCCA Annual Conference. It is always rewarding to share stories, challenges, and best practices with other camp professionals - especially those working at other Presbyterian camps.

The theme for the conference is “More than Enough.” Our theme will explore times of scarcity and the opportunity for abundance – what drives us to have plenty, how to be both realistic and faithful when confronting our reality, and how God may be calling us or moving us to abundance.

The conference has just gotten underway but already my mind is working on what I can take back to Sound View. This morning’s keynote started with this Bible verse:

9 You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.[a]
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

Psalm 65:9-13

It has been a whirlwind couple of years at camp. We have worked to build and improve, we have attracted new campers and families, we have created some exciting new new programs, but most importantly, we have embraced the “outdoor ministry” which drives our mission. Sound View is an amazing place abounding with nature’s wonders.

When God created the Earth, He said it was “good” and we work to be able stewards of our little piece of creation believing it very good also.

With all this - I know that we have “more than enough”:

• We have more than enough dedication of board and staff to continue Sound View and it's mission;

• We have more than enough people whose lives have been changed by our ministry,

• We have more than enough potential to be an effective and sacred place to change lives in the future,

• We have more than enough to face the future to adapt our site to be always relevant.

We are striving to raise $40,000 to convert 4 platform tents to warm, year-round, attractive cabins. I believe that we have more than enough donors out there to make this happen. Please be generous and make your pledge before #GivingTuesday.

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE

Tent Cabin Now and Future

Incentives

When you give to our capital campaign, you will be helping us grow in the ability to serve people - especially young people coming to explore our woods, farm, and seashore. What a wonderful feeling!

We would also like to recognize you and send you a special gift for your thoughtful donation to this capital campaign.

• For all gifts over $100: Your name on our “giving wall” in the dining hall.

• $100 to $249: A Sound View Stainless Steel Water Bottle

• $250 to $499: A Sound View Lighted Cap.

• $500 to $999: A Sound View Jacket

• $1,000 to $4,999: A water bottle, cap, and jacket, and your name on a custom bench which will sit on the porch of a cabin honoring your gift (or the memory of a loved one).

• $5,000 and over: A water bottle, cap, and jacket, and your input naming a cabin, and a major donor plaque inside the cabin honoring your gift (or the memory of a loved one).

Sustainable Development Goals

At Sound View we have the the opportunity and the responsibility to educate our guests - especially young people - as to the state of the planet and the need to get involved.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is active within the United Nations as a tireless advocate for social justice and sustainable living. Recently published and available is an excellent resource for congregations (and camp staff) to reflect, promote discussion, and educate.

From the Presbyterian News Service:

 Presbyterian churches now have a new tool to energize and educate congregations around global issues such as poverty alleviation and climate change. The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations (PMUN) has produced a new Educational Resource Guide that highlights what the PC(USA) and its global church partners are doing to address the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The 17 goals were set by world leaders in 2015 to cover social and economic development issues such as global warming, energy, social justice, poverty and hunger. The UN says the goals are “broad and interdependent,” but contain a list of targets to achieve.

It is so easy to spark discussion with youth about important matters while they are at camp surrounded by nature. The 17 goals in this resource are in harmony with what we are doing at camp and will help us as we reach out to more campers, outdoor environmental education students, and other young people - the generation that will hopefully save the planet.

Our capital campaign is about building capacity - so we can inspire future leaders.

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE

Pledge Now - Pay Later

Sure - we all want to give and it is definitely “the season” as #GivingTuesday approaches. And, of course we want to give generously, especially when it is a good cause. I really think that our modest capital campaign is one of those great causes.

Bringing young people out to camp changes lives. At camp, youth are unplugged and open to what we have to offer - whether spiritual, educational, physical, emotional, or combinations of all.

And we need warm spaces to sleep which feel “campy”.

I made my pledge. It is more than I have in the bank right now but I know that I can pay it within a year. That is the neat thing about pledges! We can rejoice knowing that we are closer to our #SV404040 goal and you can easily manage your donation.

Please consider a financial gift to our fall campaign.

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE

Envelope Stuffing

Every campaign has the customary photo of volunteers stuffing envelopes for a big mailing. We don't have a candidate in the race but we are raising money towards a $40,000 goal to build capacity for Sound View. Please be generous to our#SV404040 campaign. And, don't forget to vote!

Included in this mailing is our latest newsletter and a pledge card.

Mapping Capacity

Our capital campaign is about increasing capacity so Sound View can thrive, serving more individuals, particularly youth, throughout the year.

It is a simple formula: Lodging capacity should be greater than or equal to dining capacity.

Present Dining Hall Capacity - 140

Present Year-Round Lodging

Calvinwood Lodge - 32
Longhouse - 36
Shire Cabins* - 32
TOTAL - 100 (* The Shire Cabins (Agapes and Chalets) are not suitable for outdoor education students or youth groups because they each sleep only four. So presently our OEE capacity is 68 - 60 students, 8 chaperons.)

Proposed Year-Round Lodging

Calvinwood Lodge - 32
Longhouse - 36
Shire Cabins* - 32
Converted Tent Cabins - 40 to 80
TOTAL - 140 to 180

This will create 108 to 148 beds suitable for outdoor education (Calvinwood, Longhouse, Cabins). Teachers staying in the Shire will bring the numbers up even more.

This will also create 104 to 144 beds suitable for family programs (Calvinwood, Shire, Cabins).

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE

A Message from Nancyrose

They are coming already!

We like to think of this as a GOOD PROBLEM.

We have worked very hard over the past couple of years to build up some new, and interesting programs - especially outdoor environmental education. It is not surprising that schools are beginning to notice what we have to offer and have committed their classrooms to spring and fall experiences which complements classroom learning.

We have learned that the average public school OEE group numbers 75 to 90 students and we have said “YES”, and are still saying “YES” to schools for April/May dates. Sound View presently has sixty student beds appropriate for that time of the year so we did this knowing that we had to come up with at least forty new year-round beds.

They are coming - so we will build it! Please give to our 40-day Capital Campaign.

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE

"Mini" or "Major" - an EASY answer

We are calling our #sv404040 capital campaign a “mini” fundraising event.

We are running a “mini” capital campaign from October 19 to November 27 (#GivingTuesday)

This is not about replacing dining halls, putting in major infrastructure, or constructing a new conference center. (Those are the things which could define a “major” capital campaign.) This campaign has smaller goals which will still affect Sound View in very big ways in tune with our mission to serve young people..

Right now, we are eager to work with what facilities we have - but to make them all mesh very well together.

• We want our lodging options for students and youth groups (presently 60) to match our dining hall capacity (140). Hence - the cabin conversions which will add 80 heated beds.

• If we raise a surplus, we would like to add more bathrooms onto the dining hall.

• If we raise EVEN MORE, we would like to add garage doors to the activity building to create an indoor play space for these 140 youth - even on the coolest, rainiest days.

Coming up with this plan was easy. We presently have schools - bringing up to 140 - eager to visit Sound View in the cooler months and we would like to serve them. #SV404040

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE

#SV404040 - There is nothing so permanent as that which is temporary

Let’s fix this …

For the entire history of Sound View Camp, the Board, staff, and countless volunteers have worked hard to define “capacity”. The summer program was the driving force for guest lodging, and hence, the platform tents were built and roofs later added on. Legend has it that the when the tents arrived, they were too small, but they “made do” knowing that this was a “temporary” solution.

At the same time, a number of “master plans” were formulated to address year-round lodging knowing that the unique property was ideal for retreat groups. Calvinwood Lodge was built as a part of one of these plans and the Longhouse has been remodeled a couple of times to address year-round beds, The dining hall was expanded and can now comfortably seat 140 guests. Recently, the chalets (also know as the “coops”) have been strengthened and weatherized and along with three Agape cabins, serve the growing family camp programs.

Yet, the platform tent area - with its new shower house - is still a temporary solution for camper lodging. The tents are in an ideal, beautiful, wooded location but:

• are dark with no windows,

• are in need of repair (especially the openings),

• have inadequate electricity,

• are damp and cold during the fall, winter and spring which affects bed frames and mattresses,

• are not wheelchair accessible.

We are running a small(ish) capital campaign to transform the platform tents into better cabins that will be dry, warm and welcoming for each season. We are doing this because we believe that our summer campers, outdoor environmental education students, and weekend youth groups can benefit from more “campy” lodging than from staying in a dorm style lodge. We come to camp to experience God’s wonders and nothing beats sleeping in a cabin surrounded by nature.

The #SV404040 Campaign goal is to -

• Raise at least $40,000

• in 40 days (ending on Giving Tuesday - November 27)

• To renovate at least 4 of the 8 tents to give us 40 more year-round beds.

This is an exciting time for Sound View Camp with increased participation in summer camp and resident outdoor education. We need your help to comfortably serve all out our young guests. Thank you in advance for your gifts and pledges!

CLICK TO PLEDGE

CLICK TO DONATE