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BBC’s Year End Report (2013)

This past Saturday night, we had our annual meeting at the First Congregational Church of Woodstock (thanks for that FCCW!).

It was a good turnout as seen in the picture above.

The agenda included reporting, visioning and a pot luck meal. One thing we wanted to show but didn’t have time for was Robert’s fly through of the new pavi. You can watch it over here.

During reporting, we covered much of the annual report. You can read it for yourself right here.

For those of you association members who missed Sandy’s song, here it is:

Post by Bethany Birches Camp.

Want more info on joining the BBC Association? Check it out.

On February 8, we hosted a Women’s Breakfast at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church. When planning began last year, the committee decided to ask Amber to share, and she said yes! The committee also decided that donations raised at the breakfast would go to Camp.

The Women’s Breakfast was a huge success! Amber shared stories from the Hill about “Meeting God in Unexpected Places”. She talked about there being room for conflicting feelings in our lives – like strength & weakness, confidence & fear, when we have Jesus. That sometimes both are present, but the love of Jesus allows us to acknowledge and understand the differences in the highs and lows in our lives, without allowing them to define who we are.

This happens to me every year when we come to shepherd for a week at camp. I love the opportunity to be with the kids, getting to know them better in a one-to-one setting. But I am not so comfortable standing before them and speaking during daily Jump Start’s and Fireside’s. The benefits that come from the relationships developed with campers definitely outweighs my public speaking fears, and the grace of God allows me to have enough confidence to get through the hard part of FEAR so that I can enjoy the LOVE of being with kids at camp.

I was privileged to be a part of the planning committee for this Women’s Breakfast. It is a lot of work, but seeing 115 women, spanning several generations, come together for a morning of fellowship, food and rejuvenation through the words shared is such a blessing! And while fund-raising is not the main focus of our breakfast, we are continually amazed at the wonderful ways in which God works. We had several different donors come forward willing to give $5,000 in “matching donations”! This means that they will match all donations given at the breakfast, up to $5,000. In turn, this encourages people to give generously at the breakfast, because then basically every dollar they give is doubled! I am always amazed by the strength of a community when they work together. Who would think that a breakfast could generate this much funding?

And guess what? We collected over $4,500 on that Saturday morning! Praise God! There are expenses to cover and we are still collecting donations this week. Our goal is to raise as close to $5,000, which will then turn in to $10,000 for camp! As of today (Valentine’s day), we are at $9,000! So I challenge you to think of new, fun ways that you can raise money for the new pavilion. To you campers who ski a lot – what about selling hot chocolate slope-side? What about hosting a pancake breakfast before school one morning? Think about it, and don’t let your fears stop you from doing something that will give back to you and your community… YOU CAN DO IT!!

Flo

(aka Beth Goshow)

Click here to listen to Amber’s sharing!

Click here for photos from the morning.

Mission Possible Campaign: Progress! and Help!

Mission Possible: The Pavilion Project

People often ask how the fundraising for the pavilion project is going. I say really well! It’s been an encouraging so far with many people giving however they can. Many generous donors have given and pledged over $1,225,000. Below is an outline of the gifts we’ve received to date in graphic form. We are elated and grateful for the generosity shown to date and also aware we still have $600,000 to go till we reach the $1,800,000 goal. $1.8M will not only build the new pavilion, it will pay for camp program for four years (2012-2015). The logic takes a little explaining but the short story is that we built the campaign this way so that we could raise the program-subsidy money we raise each year while we’re raising money for the pavilion all with one message. That message is that VT young people need a place for faith-development and that place needs to include programming beyond summer. Our secondary message is very simple: the current pavilion is broken!

Will you help? There are two ways you can help:

We’re still searching for commitments of money. Would you consider a monthly gift of $10 or more?

[button-medium color=”green” link=”bethanybirches.org/donate/”]Give Money[/button-medium]

We’re now seeking commitments of time. We’ll value time commitments at $20/hour. So if you said you could give us a week of time (40 hours), say to do a bunch of painting, we’d count that as a gift of $800 toward the remaining money to be raised. You can fill out the form on this page to let us know of your gift

[button-medium color=”green” link=”bethanybirches.org/give-time-pavi/”]Give Time[/button-medium]

In other news, I’d like to highlight the biggest gift given to date. It was in the amount of $200,000 and was given by the Clemens Family Corporation (CFC)! CFC (http://www.clemensfamilycorp.com) owns Hatfield Quality Meats, Country View Family Farms, Clemens Development, CFC Logistics, PV Transport and Nick’s Sausage Company. Their vision is quite simply to “steward diversified, profitable and growing enterprises controlled by the Clemens family.” Among their stated values are:

Honor God in all we do
Earn a reputation of high ethics and integrity
Take a long-term view
Share success with team members, community and shareholders
Seek to set commercial standards
Some of the camp’s supporters work for CFC businesses and that is, in part, the connection between CFC and Bethany Birches.

Thanks John, Merrill, Doug and other CFC members for giving The Pavilion Project a huge boost!

Campers say thanks to Pavi Donors!

Campers talk about the old and new pavilions:

And here is a visual image of the giving to date. Pretty amazing to have so many gifts of so many different sizes. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Click on the image to see it larger or download the pdf

Pyramid - giving mission possible - December 2013

Stuff Campers Say: “It’s, like, not that prepared for, like, every weather situation.”

The Vibe of the Auction

Apple cider, maple syrup and donuts, oh my! Have you ever experienced the BBC auction? Let me give you a glimpse into the things that touched me this past weekend:

Campers come and help sell the items on the live auction by presenting the items to the audience – little do they know what an impact that has on the sale of the item!

Counselors and staff return with donated items- or they are like “mystery shoppers”, proxy bidding for those online bids that have been submitted.

People travel from places far & wide to come spend a day in the beautiful countryside and support camp.

A fabulous auctioneer from PA (Sandy Alderfer of Alderfer Auction Company) comes with his entourage to most definitely get more money per item with his perfect blend of humor, compassion and philanthropic encouragement.

Items are baked, chopped, squeezed, pressed, fried, ground, and cooked with loving hands to provide nourishment for the crowds and yummy additions to the sale!

Oh yes, and then the money…. People pay crazy amounts for everyday items. 15 people chose to simply donate $200-$400 each to send a camper to camp. And a wonderful “matching donor” (Glenn and Diane Moyer) agreed to double what was raised per dollar for any amount raised between $20,000 and $40,000.

Maybe it is because I didn’t grow up going to auctions that I am just awed by it all. Maybe because I truly love BBC – the place that it is, the kids, staff and counselors, and all that it represents. Maybe it’s because I know that there is something bigger than me out there, and He always shows himself to me when I’m there. Whatever the reason, I left the 2013 BBC Auction with a thankful heart and a happy soul. And the icing on the cake is that through all of this we keep making progress towards this wonderful goal of keeping the camp alive and thriving for generations to come. With the additional money raised, we have now raised well over $1 million towards the goal of $1.8 million for a new pavilion at camp.

For more information on that project (Mission Possible: The Pavilion Project) see the website or sign up for emails or text updates.

Flo

(aka Beth Goshow)

Mission Possible Communications Manager

Get a New Perspective

God is on the move at camp! I write this because there is so much happening and a lot of it seems very good.

As I reflect on this, I think about how we experience things we like, we can easily attribute those feelings to God’s goodness and gifts. Similarly, when we experience things we don’t like, we can easily attribute our feelings to God and say God is against us (sometimes this may be but often, we simply need to re-calibrate our understanding of what is good, or rather, who is good).I really like the fundraising that’s happening at Bethany Birches Camp (BBC) right now. For example, the 11th Annual Benefit Auction that happened at camp in late September raised $60,000. It’s easy to feel a sense of blessing in the wake of that fundraiser. Or, consider the current status of Mission Possible: The Pavilion Project. $1.2 million has been committed to date. These two numbers are historical for BBC.On the other hand, this coming weekend we’re hosting a teen connect. Only 15 are signed up right now. On a bad day, it’s easy for me to feel like God has not blessed this event.

It helps me in the face of what I perceive as wild success and annoying failure to remember a couple things from Scripture. First, in Isaiah 55, God exclaims “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” Second, from Paul in Philippians 4 we learn that it’s possible to be content whatever our circumstances. And third, from Jesus, we come to understand that God’s blessings pour out on the righteous and unrighteous and that often things are reversed (the beatitudes illustrate blessing in tough situations and it’s hard for wealthy people to enter the Kingdom).

Join me in praying for the camp and the many people it serves. Pray for blessing, for effectiveness in ministry, for those of us in leadership to stay near to Jesus and for many campers to experience God’s love.

When you’re done praying, check out a few of these interesting webpages:
All about the Pavilion Project
All about the Auction
Winter camps coming up
Sign up for MP campaign text updates
Sign up for camp update emails

Thanks-Giving

Below is a guest post from Chad Yoder:

Thankful for Gifts of all Sizes

Fundraising is a funny thing. A need arises out of the blue or a vision is put into action, both of which require a capital investment. So where does this money come from? A single donor? A few select individuals? Or a village ready and willing to raise a barn? And why are some people intimidated by a call from someone asking for financial help? Do they think “someone else will cover the cost” or “my gifts are not significant enough to make a difference”?

I have a growing appreciation for people who do development work. Maybe it’s because I’ve been on the other side of the phone making excuses why I cannot give to a certain project. Or maybe because each time I agree to help with fundraising, the job is just as difficult as I remembered it. Or because of influences that are out of my control can stifle the joy of people who have typically considered giving as an act of worship and an example of Jubilee. So why do I raise money for BBC?

I had my first taste of fundraising success a few years ago when I recognized the need for BBC to purchase some equipment so maintaining the camp property would be more efficient. A friend of mine, Herb Wenger, had shared a story of raising money to purchase a tractor for BBC years earlier. He was at breakfast with some friends and happened to mention the need for a tractor at BBC. One friend spoke up and said “raise the money Herb and we’ll all pitch in”. And so he did just that, and with the encouragement of some friends, he soon had the money to purchase the tractor.

I was encouraged when I found similar success to that of Herb. I was surprised to hear people say “thanks for asking me Chad” and “we’re happy to pitch in for this cause”. Soon enough I had the money needed to purchase most of the equipment on our wish list. What a wonderful feeling it is to raise money without feeling intrusive or burdensome.

So why does fundraising for BBC feel so different to me? PASSION! I can’t remember a time that I’ve been so excited about a project and I think that my passion makes all the difference. It get’s others excited for both BBC and for me. People want to help BBC build a new pavi, but they also want to support me in my efforts because they see how important this project is to me.

The fall of 2012 was the beginning of the Mission Possible campaign, the Pavi Project. An estimated building cost of $1,400,000 plus another $400,000 (includes three years of programming needs) makes the total amount needed for this project $1,800,000. For some organizations, this may not seem like a big deal, but for BBC it is a major financial mountain to climb. The passion of Brandon and Amber, the BBC board, the staff, campers, and the development resource committee could not be more evident. This is why we named our project “Mission Possible”, because with God, all things are possible.

I am pleased to announce that we have surpassed $1,200,000 in committed dollars to the campaign so far. This is only possible from a wide variety of gifts and we are thankful for gifts of all sizes. Like the gift from the Clemens Family Corporation (shown in the picture), the unique auction match from Glen and Diane Moyer, the many creative auction donors and generous bidders this year, and offering projects like that of the Blooming Glen Mennonite Youth Fellowship. It’s so cool to know that BBC has made an impact on all of those who choose to support the mission of the Camp. This empowers me to keep pressing forward with the Mission Possible campaign with energy and PASSION!

Chad Yoder

Co-chair

Resource Development Team

Goals

Flo here again… have you ever set a goal? Camp has a goal… to raise $1.8 million for a new pavi so that campers can keep coming to camp for many years. When I was first asked to help that seemed like such a big number… and it is! But we’ve already raised $1.2 million!

What kind of goal would you like to achieve? Is there something you’d like to challenge yourself with? Last weekend, I had the pleasure of running with Sparkles and Benjamine in their first ever race. It was awesome! They both set a goal and reached it. Make a decision today to challenge yourself and set a goal… YOU CAN DO IT!!

– Flo

Experience The Auction

Apple cider, maple syrup and donuts, oh my! Have you ever experienced the BBC auction? Let me give you a glimpse into the things that touched me this past weekend:

Campers come and help sell the items on the live auction by presenting the items to the audience – little do they know what an impact that has on the sale of the item!

Counselors and staff return with donated items- or they are like “mystery shoppers”, proxy bidding for those online bids that have been submitted.

People travel from places far & wide to come spend a day in the beautiful countryside and support camp.

A fabulous auctioneer from PA comes with his entourage to most definitely get more money per item with his perfect blend of humor, compassion and philanthropic encouragement.

Items are baked, chopped, squeezed, pressed, fried, ground, and cooked with loving hands to provide nourishment for the crowds and yummy additions to the sale!

For more information on that project (Mission Possible: The Pavilion Project) go here. To read about the auction totals go here. Photos of the auction day go here.

If you like what you see here, share it with others! “Like” us on Facebook! Repost a blog! Tweet about it (@BethanyBirches)! You can use #MissionPossible, #WithGod, #ThePaviProject Tuna loves to use the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This was so evident this gorgeous, amazing weekend in VT. Praise be to God, thanks be to all of you and blessings to all the kids who continue to develop their relationship with God.

Flo

(aka Beth Goshow)

Mission Possible Communications Manager

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THE $1100 GOLDEN SHOVEL