Donate to Camp Echo
Caring ... Honesty ... Respect ... Responsibility
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The Camp Echo Annual Fund
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Many of us recall the thrill of yelling ECHO! at the top of our lungs out over the lake with fellow campers at the closing campfire ... and seeing the burning triangle rise on the far shore.
Whether you've been a youth or Family camper, a counselor or are a parent of a camper, you know the unique way that Camp Echo touches people, helping them grow as individuals and as members of a community.
At camp, kids and families find fun, engaging, safe programs in a natural wonderland and carry a bit of Echo with them when they leave.
Our 2008 Camp Echo Annual Fund goal is $90,000 to support camperships, sustain strong programs, retain a quality staff, and maintain Camp Echo facilities for today and the future.
Last year, 87 youth and 10 families without the means to afford camp were helped by scholarship funds and full camperships.
Your contribution will strengthen camp and ensure that we will continue to nurture campers, foster values, and develop leaders for tomorrow.
Donations to Camp Echo go directly to the Camp Echo operating budget and support Camp Echo.
Your gift to the 2008 Camp Echo Annual Fund and your pledge to support Camp Echo in future years at the same or higher level will ensure our continued success.
A portion of Echo's earned and contributed revenue also helps offset the $1.2 million in membership support, scholarships and program subsidies that the McGaw YMCA provides youth and families in our community.
Today more than ever, kids need help and support to grow into capable, caring adults.
At camp, they experience a sense of wonder and an appreciation of nature while developing core values of honesty, caring, respect and responsibility.
Camp Echo has always been a positive force in people's lives, building self-worth in children and teenagers through a supportive environment that helps them find and believe in their own voices.
Help ensure that more children and families will be able to enjoy the Echo experience and take a piece of the Echo spirit home with them.
Please send your contribution today. Together we'll build strong kids, strong families, strong communities.
Click below to make a contribution to the Camp Echo Annual Fund using PayPal.
If you don't use PayPal, or prefer to donate by check, credit card, or other means, please call Katie Trippi, Camp Echo Development Director, 847-475-7400 x226.
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The Pension Protection Act of 2006
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A provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 makes it easier for people age 70-1/2 or older to donate money from their individual retirement accounts to charity.
The provision, which is currently effective only for 2006 and 2007, allows for tax-free withdrawals from IRAs as long as that money goes directly to charity.
Camp Echo is a qualifying charity.
Consult your tax advisor or legal counsel for advice and information, and to be sure that such a donation is to your advantage;
then, contact Katie Trippi, Camp Echo Development Director, 847-475-7400 x226, to discuss the ways in which your gift can benefit Camp Echo.
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The Send a Kid to Camp Fund
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In the fall of 2003 Camp Echo, in collaboration with the Ted Fund of Evanston, established the "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund.
While Evanston children sit side-by-side in classrooms during the school year, they spend their summers in very different worlds.
Children of the economically advantaged are enrolled in swim lessons, sports camps, drama classes, and other special programs.
Their summers are rich with opportunities for fun, self-expression, skill building, and personal development.
In contrast, children of families living below the poverty line are often left behind.
Nearly one out of every three children in Evanston comes from a family that cannot afford such extras as organized summer camp or recreation.
The Ted Fund addresses this glaring need by leveling the playing field.
The Fund enables public school children from families with limited financial resources to take part in quality, fee-based summer programs that other Evanston children take for granted.
The Ted Fund was established in 1996 in memory of Ted Muller, who had spent many years as a camp counselor and a District 65 teacher.
The Ted Fund identifies a dozen eligible third-grade students in District 65 schools, and provides them with a day camp experience for three consecutive summers.
Participating day camps include Olympian Sports Camp; the City of Evanstonıs Arts Camp, Ecology Camp, and Robert Crown Summer Camp; and the McGaw YMCAıs Camp WaNaGo.
Camp Echo's "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund picks up where the Ted Fund leaves off.
In collaboration with the Ted Fund, four eligible sixth-grade "graduates" of their day camp experience are identified each year, and provided with a two-week Camp Echo experience for three summers.
Members of the Camp Echo Committee help to ease the transition from day camp to overnight camp by assisting with the paperwork required for camp and by helping each family to identify and obtain appropriate camping gear.
In 2006 we reached our goal of providing twelve full camperships every year. Donations to Camp Echo's "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund are welcome at any time.
Click below to make a contribution to the Send a Kid to Camp Fund using PayPal.
If you don't use PayPal, or prefer to donate by check, credit card, or other means, please call Katie Trippi, Camp Echo Development Director, 847-475-7400 x226.
While "Send a Kid to Camp" Fund donations have come from a variety of sources, a fun way to donate is through the purchase of an "Echo in the Round" CD for $25 + $2.50 s/h.
The recording and editing sessions were underwritten by designated donations from friends of Camp Echo, ensuring that most of the purchase price will help bring kids to camp.
Click below to purchase the Echo in the Round Double CD Set using PayPal.
Echo in the Round contains bits of adult humor
Parental guidance is suggested
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The Send a Teen to Camp Fund
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After attending camp for three summers, our "Send a Kid" campers have the opportunity to choose from a variety of teen programs at Camp Echo.
We ask these high school students to pay a small portion of their camp fee, but we still need donations to support this worthy program.
Teens who participate in teen programs at Camp Echo are well-prepared to take on leadership positions in their school or community, and eligible to apply for staff positions.
Click below to make a contribution to the Send a Teen to Camp Fund using PayPal.
If you don't use PayPal, or prefer to donate by check, credit card, or other means, please call Katie Trippi, Camp Echo Development Director, 847-475-7400 x226.
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The Send a Family to Camp Fund
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Started in 2004 by Rhonda Goldstein, a first-time family camper, the "Send a Family to Camp" Fund brings economically disadvantaged families who might not otherwise be able to attend, to Family Camp.
Each year, donations to the "Send a Family to Camp" Fund allow us to award up to twelve Family-to-Family Camperships.
These are full fee awards for a Camp Echo Family Camp (Week or Weekend), that include a Trading Post account of $25/person covering horseback rides, T-shirts, snacks, and arts & crafts projects for family members.
The intent of the Family to Family Campership is to help bring diversity to Camp Echo Family Camp as well as opening the Family Camp experience to families who otherwise could not afford it.
Families who participate in the McGaw YMCA's "Membership for All" program and who demonstrate involvement in or commitment to other McGaw YMCA programs are invitied to apply.
Click below to make a contribution to the Send a Family to Camp Fund using PayPal.
If you don't use PayPal, or prefer to donate by check, credit card, or other means, please call Katie Trippi, Camp Echo Development Director, 847-475-7400 x226.
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Camp Echo's Peak Naming Opportunity
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Each of our 16 camper cabins at camp was built and named after generous donations from service clubs friends of Camp Echo to honor or memorialize individuals or family members who had a connection to Camp Echo.
Examples include Wally Ford Lodge, Ben Snyder Lodge, Optimist Lodge, Lions Lodge, and Kiwanis Lodge.
Each year since 1999, we have built one or two smaller cabins, which we call Peaks, that are used to house central program staff during the summer and families of size four or less at Family Camp.
We are currently seeking donations of $20,000 or more -- investments in Camp Echo's future -- as naming rights for each Peak cabin.
We have ten such cabins to name, and we have serious interest from a number of long-time Camp Echo friends and families for six of the ten.
We will announce the new cabin names in the coming months.
If you or your family are interested in our Peak Naming Opportunity, contact the Camp Echo Development Director.
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Camp staff and volunteers, working with the firms of OCBA and Slocum Associates, held an architectural design charrette in May, 2007 at Camp Echo.
The work product of that event is a Master Plan -- a sort of "blueprint" for upgrades and additions to the Camp Echo facility that we hope to bring to fruition over the next five or ten years.
The McGaw YMCA and Camp Echo staff and policy volunteers are currently working to establish phasing and funding goals for the projects identified at the charrette.
If you or your family are interested in helping Camp Echo achieve these significant goals, contact the Camp Director.
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Building a Camp Echo Endowment
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McGaw YMCA and Camp Echo staff and policy volunteers are currently working to establish endowment policies and procedures that will allow donors to help ensure the future of Camp Echo through planned giving or outright contributions designated for endowment.
If you would like to be put on the list to receive information when it becomes available, contact the Camp Director.
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Planned Giving: The Aiken-Talley Society
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The Aiken-Talley Society was created in 2006 by the McGaw YMCA Board of Directors
to recognize growing number of visionary benefactors who have generously contributed to the long-term health of the McGaw YMCA
by including the Association in their estate plans.
The Society is named for Mayhew P. Aiken, the first president of the Evanston YMCA established in 1885,
and the Rev. James Talley, the first Executive Secretary of the Emerson Street YMCA established in 1914
for the African American community in Evanston.
The two YMCA's were merged in the 1960s at our present location.
Through the generosity of our past and current donors the endowment fund has over four million dollars.
Our goal is to build the endowment fund to ten million dollars to ensure that the McGaw YMCA will continue to change lives and positively impact our community for years to come.
Specific opportunities to designate endowment gifts for Camp Echo are being planned and will be announced in the coming year.
If you have already named Camp Echo or the McGaw YMCA in your estate plan, or if you are considering doing so,
please contact the Camp Echo Development Director.
We want to be sure that we honor you as a member of the Aiken-Talley Society.
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Camp Echo welcomes donations of the following items:
- Macintosh computers (G4/750 or better)
- Child restaint "booster seat" for a 7-year-old
- Power tools
- Decks of cards
- DVD movies (G or PG)
- 35mm film cameras
- Board games
- Jigsaw puzzles
- Arts & Crafts supplies
- Sailboats (Sunfish, or Barnett 1400)
- Vehicles (specific vehicles, year 2000 or newer)
- Water skis or Wakeboards (in excellent shape)
If you have any of the above contact the Camp Director.
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Donate Your Time to Camp Echo
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Volunteers give about 3,500 hours of time to Camp Echo each year -- a total of 22,224 hours since we began officially tracking hours on July 1, 2001.
There are opportunites to serve as policy volunteers (committee members), work weekends (fall and spring), and summer jobs.
Click here to learn more about volunteer opportunities at Camp Echo.
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