New pavilion boosts effectiveness

I was preparing a document today… it’s a Pavilion Project Campaign finance and construction update.  You’ll see it soon in the fall newsletter.  And I got to thinking about the real purpose of the building and project.  You see, during the course of the project I became overwhelmed at times and forgot why we were doing this.  I lost perspective among the many details and decisions.

We originally set out to do this project to enhance and further BBC’s mission.  The new building makes camp easier to run, makes camp more fun on rainy days (and we get a lot of those!) and of course, expands non-summer programming opportunities.  This is where our mission begins to shine. A camper who is here multiple times each year typically develops their faith much more quickly and seriously.  On top of those things, it makes the state happy.  Let’s just say they were very unhappy with the old building (especially the “commercial” kitchen).

One thing that was evident this summer: it was a huge boost in summer operations.  I found that staff seemed to have an easier time planning and running activities and storing and retrieving supplies.  I think this gave them extra energy for making camp the best they could for campers.  And the kitchen… the kitchen staff and volunteers worked so much faster… they could stage a whole day’s work and take breaks in the afternoon and get out at a reasonable hour.  That just wasn’t possible in the old kitchen.

I overheard our new Program Director, Dan Laubach, talking about the benefits of the new pavilion when giving a tour recently… “It’s great even on rainy days.  I can have dodge ball over there, cards out on that porch, 9 square here, arts and crafts on that porch and there’s still room for people to walk from place to place!”  I think this highlights the point I’m trying to make about the new building being just want the camp needed to boost operational efficiency and to make camp as good as it can be for the many campers who utilize it.  This is saying nothing of the rental opportunities and partnerships that are starting to crop up.  More on those topics another time.

Here’s to hoping you don’t get lost along the way during your next overwhelming season in life.  If you do, step back and try to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Tuna

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