SWEATYS GET ACTIVE AND GIVE BACK AWARD NOMINEE
WHO: Summer Camp Staff from South Windsor Parks & Recreation in South Windsor, CT.
WHAT: In their second annual Run4Camp, the summer camp staff ran 26.2 miles from the South Windsor Community Center to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, CT. They raised $2517.19.
HOW: The staff held a number of mini-events leading up to their Run4Camp event. Their mini fundraisers included Dairy Queen, Moe’s and Sweet Frog nights where a portion of all sales went to our cause, in addition to a night at Campions (a local pizza shop) where the counselors took over as servers and received all the tips from the evening. They also put out fliers for all of our camp families as well as sent out mass e-mails. On the big day, they held a 26.2 mile relay run starting from their camp home base in South Windsor and ending at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford. All of the counselors were the runners in this event.
BEST PART ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE: Lauren says, “The arrival at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp! We run (no pun intended) our event toward the end of our camp season, so by then all of our counselors have created a unique bond and are truly a team. We work hard all summer to raise these funds, so to hand deliver the check to the camp is so rewarding!
TOUGHEST PART WAS: Lauren says, “We were extremely enthusiastic and committed to our Run4Camp event. The toughest part was to tie that commitment together with the fundraising. The staff is mostly made up of 16 – 24 year olds, so most of our funds came from camp families and outside sources. We had to get creative in how our funds came in seeing as most of our staff weren’t able to donate too much money individually!” Taylor says, “Running the hills! Tough on the legs, but totally worth it!”
ADVICE FOR OTHER MOVERS & SHAKERS: “Don’t lose sight of the fun! The fundraising and logistics of events can bring in a stressful element, but keeping a smile and a sense of humor allows the management and all participants to really enjoy themselves all the way,” says Lauren.
MY CHARITY FIRES ME UP BECAUSE: “We are CAMP PEOPLE and believe that every child, regardless of their abilities, deserve the opportunity to go to camp. It’s an honor to have a world renown camp facility that supports this mission right around the corner for us. We are fired up to know that The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp is accepting and accommodating to children everywhere.”
HOW DID RUN4CAMP GET STARTED? “A few years ago, our staff created a flash mob as a team building event. We broke out in dance at one of our summer concert series in front of thousands of attendees. The next year, our staff felt as though we were a big enough team to make a real impact. It was put to a vote – we knew we wanted to do a fundraiser, but it was up to the team to decide what event we wanted to do, and what cause we wanted to donate the money toward….and Run4Camp was born!”
WHY GET SWEATY FOR A CAUSE?: “Since our camps are run out of South Windsor Parks & Recreation Department, recreating is our middle name! It’s nice to support our mission of staying active while contributing to a good cause.”
HOW DID THE DOUBLE DOLLAR INCENTIVE HELP? It was an incentive for us to know that we would be impacting double the amount of children than we would have without Positive Tracks. Without Positive Tracks, we would have funded a little over 1 child attending camp (which is approximately $2,500). With Positive tracks, we were able to send two!
HOW DID YOUR POSITIVE TRACKS COORDINATOR HELP? “Andrea was a huge asset for when we actually arrived to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. She joined in on our enthusiasm of completing the run and then shared the back story of their camp. It helped tied our whole event together.”
SEE THE RUN IN ACTION:
Check them out in the Hartford Courant too.