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Camp Wanake
Fiscal Update for 2010
Wanake Ends the 2010 Fiscal
Year $1,110 in the Black!
With the help of alumni and volunteers, the efforts
of diligent camp staff, and the prayers of churches and friends, we
are pleased to report that Camp Wanake balanced its operating budget
for the fiscal year 2010, which ended on December 31. Necessary for
the fiscal health of the camp, a balanced operating budget enables the
East Ohio Conference to sustain the level of Christian ministry and
programming for which Wanake has been known since its beginning in 1946.
This budget challenge began in May of 2010 when one
of Wanake’s long-time 6th grade public school camp programs called
to say that its district’s levy did not pass, forcing the school
to cancel outdoor education week the following September. This loss
in opportunity for the children came with an immediate income shortfall
of $20,000 for Wanake. Nearly 90 percent of the revenue for Wanake’s
$650,000 annual operating budget is generated by camp fees.
While camper registrations at the outset of the summer
program were quite strong, they slowed dramatically. By the end of June
2010, this had produced an additional shortfall of $30,000 (a drop of
100 campers at an average of $300 per camper per week).
To cut expenses, the camp put on hold its hiring of
two year-round, part-time positions and hired fewer paid summer staff,
making up the difference with dedicated volunteers. This cut in personnel
expenses provided more than half of the expense savings Wanake experienced
in the second half of the year. Enterprising Wanake staff also found
ways to cut operating expenses.
Wanake asked alumni and friends to help in two ways:
to raise campership monies and to help find additional uses for the
site. In a miraculous turn of events, God also provided a number of
new groups for fall of 2010. With referrals from both alumni and our
sister camps, Wanake income rebounded by $26,000 in the fall retreat
season.
The fiscal health of Camp Wanake for the future is
not in cost cutting and less programming. We must continue to increase
the use of the site—booking retreat groups (even family reunions),
outdoor education groups, summer camp registrations, and through gifts
for camperships. As we increase the use of the site, our opportunities
for Christian ministry will abound.
Several organizations engaged in Christian ministry
throughout the country have had to close this past year due to shortfalls
in operating budgets. The financial challenge for Wanake and other United
Methodist camps is not over. As we begin 2011, we ask that you continue
to pray for the ministry at Wanake, to provide resources, and to send
more campers and groups our way. Be a part of God’s work at Camp
Wanake.
This
newsletter is written by Julie Lautt and sent on the alumni e-mail network
by Dave Kennat.
Please respond all Wanake correspondence
director@campwanake.org.
330-756-2333 voice, 330-756-2300 fax
9463 Manchester Ave SW
Beach City, OH 44608
Official
web page: www.CampWanake.org
New e-mail addresses for Wanake:
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