Would you ever have thought that your old shoes could help send our kids to Vanderkamp? Well they can, and here's how! Our youth (and their parents) are participating in a fundraiser where there is nothing to buy or sell, all we need is your support and your old shoes!!
It's estimated that 600 million pair of shoes go into American landfills each year! The majority of these shoes can still be worn! The shoes that we collect will be kept from landfills and will help other kids in developing nations like Ghana, Haiti, and Bolivia start micro-businesses that will create a sustainable income for their families, all of that AND helping our kids go to Vanderkamp!!
We are looking for support from our church family by agreeing to help us collect gently worn used or new shoes (even flip-flops!!), in the next few weeks!! All you have to do is start in your own closets, basements, etc. Gather up shoes that are out of style, too small or out of season. We will even give you the bags to collect them - - as in 25 pair to a bag! If you have 25 pair yourself, great! If not, you could also ask neighbors, family members, co-workers, etc. Can we count on you?? Please say, "YES!! I WILL HELP!!" If you can't fill a bag of 25, we will take whatever you would like to donate!
Please see Becky Williams for more information or for bags and rubber bands for your shoe collections. If you know anyone that we can contact about having bags in their businesses, please let us know. As always, we thank you for your support of our kids!
We are also collecting bottles. You can bring them into the church and leave them in the locker room
or let us know and we will come pick them up from your house.
The bottle drive will continue into July when the kids go to camp.
We get 6 cents per bottle where we take them.
2012 began a greater relationship between First Presbyterian Church of Oneida and Vanderkamp Center. Many families helped the camp save on maintenance costs of the barn by installing a metal roof. We contributed more than $15,000 in labor costs for this huge project. We will be going back again this year to put another metal roof on one of the lodges. Friday May 31st, Robert Lodge is reserved for us. Work is started in the evening and continued all day Saturday. Come and go as you can. There are many other projects besides the roof that can be done, including working in the community garden that they started.
Our fundraising for camping scholarships for 2013 began on Palm Sunday -- almost $300 was raised by selling cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bread, and chocolate "wings." We thank everyone who participated and donated! Currently, there are 17 prospective campers interested in spending a week at Vanderkamp. This is a huge increase over two summers ago when Claire Mancarella was the only one our church sponsored. The 13 campers who went last year had so much fun that they can't wait to go back this summer!! The camping week for this year is Celebration Week, July 14 - 20, but there are other weeks to choose from if that week doesn't work for you. Please see Becky Williams for more details or to ask questions.
The children who will be attending Vanderkamp are going to host a Spaghetti Dinner on May 19th from 4-6:30 in the auditorium at the church. We currently have 16 children confirmed to spend a week this summer at this amazing camp! If you would like to take part in any way, please let Becky Williams know. Dinner will include spaghetti with meat sauce, bread, salad, drinks, and dessert. Cost will be $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for kids 6-12 and kids 5 and under are free. There will be a maximum price of $30 for a family with kids under 18.
We also have an offer from a local bottle return center for 6 cents for every can we turn in. There are collection boxes in the old locker room downstairs, you can also leave them in the kitchen and the kids will get them to the collection boxes for you!
2012 began a greater relationship between First Presbyterian Church of Oneida and Vanderkamp Center. Many families helped the camp save on maintenance costs of the barn by installing a metal roof. We contributed more than $15,000 in labor costs for this huge project. We will be going back again this year to put another metal roof on one of the lodges. Friday May 31st, Robert Lodge is reserved for us. Work is started in the evening and continued all day Saturday. Come and go as you can. There are many other projects besides the roof that can be done, including working in the community garden that they started.