BULLETIN TEMPLATE (Feb 20, 2018)

Our visiting speaker, Newton Homan, Treasurer (for 19 years!) of Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck's Board of Trustees, provided us with a brief history of the camp as well as an update. The camp was founded in 1946 by the Moriches Rotary Club. The first campers were those afflicted with polio. Today, the camp welcomes youngsters with all sorts of special needs and disabilities including autism, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, mental retardation, and visual and hearing impairments. The camp is a private, nonprofit organization that receives no government aid but is dependent on the generosity of individuals and organizations for support. In order to bring about needed physical updates and program changes over the years and to keep progressing with the times, the camp's Board decided to meet more frequently-once a month- and to make better use of the expanded, modernized facilities beyond the summer months. The campers now enjoy a 3 month program (a record 438 campers attended last year). In the past, as camp facilities became dilapidated and failed to meet changing health and safety standards, the need to raise the money to right the situation and keep the camp afloat fell to the Board, which continuously had to seek generous donors. Port Jeff's Gary Giles engineered the receipt of a generous bequest that first enabled the camp to make required repairs. More recently, development rights were sold for some of the camp's acreage (to preserve them from becoming future building-sites)- a win-win situation for the camp. The monies derived from this sale enable continuing refurbishment, including new buildings, new roofs and floors, a renovated kitchen with first rate equipment like a refrigerator/freezer, as well as new, clean, modern bathrooms, and the like. These days, the Board is being proactive rather than reactive. It is constantly planning for the camp's continued success, whether it means introducing the use of astroturf, updating cesspools for the new dorms, or even building a spray deck. Some of the monies currently raised are being put away in a "rainy day fund". During the last 3 years, the camp has built up a small surplus. An active local group, the PaQuaTuck Squaws, help raise money for the camp year round and are successful in their endeavors. The new hall is being rented out for social events throughout the year ($1,000 for Rotarians), and a series of public events that take place at the camp bring in still more welcome funds. When the summer camp is not in session, the camp offers a weekend respite program, making facilities available for enjoyment by the public. Conclusion: the current financial status of the camp is strong.