Camp Echo Alumni E-News Update April 19, 2006 Contents -------- Youth CARE Wins! Banff Mountain Film Festival - Camp Echo Benefit New McGaw YMCA Website Off-Season Projects Update "Send a Kid to Camp" Appeal Reaches 2006 Goal WFA and WAFA Courses Offered Locally Wish List - 2 iMacs Needed This Month Echo Annual Campaign YouthCARE Wins! --------------- With the help of Echo alumni the world over, YouthCARE, a Minneapolis non-profit organization, won the online Fan Appreciation poll that ended April 16. Echo Alum Dan Ettinger, who works for YouthCARE, spearheaded the effort to urge friends of YouthCARE to cast their votes on the web. The Minnesota Timberwolves will welcome YouthCARE participants on-court today (April 19) during the last home game of the season and present them with the $10,000 award. Over 19,350 votes were cast online, and after adding the in-stadium votes to the online poll, YouthCARE came out ahead by just a few hundred votes. YouthCARE will use the $10,000 Grant to provide outdoor camping experiences for deserving youth from the Minneapolis area. Dan Ettinger said, "Thank you to all those who voted for YouthCARE as well as to all those who encouraged their friends, family members, and colleagues to support YouthCARE. In total, nearly 8,000 votes were cast for YouthCARE. This is an amazing showing of community support and we could not have won without each an every one of you. Clearly, every vote counted. Over the past two weeks, we were sent many stories about how people all over Minnesota, the United States, and the world were working together to help YouthCARE. We appreciate all of your support." "If you would like to learn more about YouthCARE, join our mailing list, or find other opportunities to support YouthCARE programming, please contact me at dettinger@YouthCAREmn.org. You guys are the best!" Banff Mountain Film Festival - Camp Echo Benefit ------------------------------------------------ As you may know, the Banff Mountain Film Festival will be held in Chicago this Saturday, April 22 at the Park West Theatre. The festival is a juried group of documentaries that exhibits extreme sports. The ticket price is only $15. This year the festival is being sponsored by RaceLogix, an Evanston- based triathlon and adventure racing shop that caters to cyclists, runners, kayakers and climbers. RaceLogix will donate 20% of the tickets sales generated through this email back to Camp Echo. Tickets are purchased through our online store at RaceLogix.com: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/racelogix/bafifeti.html Choose "McGaw YMCA Camp Echo" as the recipient of the donation. New McGaw YMCA Website ---------------------- We are happy to inform all our members that the McGaw YMCA now has a new website. We are very pleased with our new look, and, most importantly, we believe that the new site will do a much better job of meeting the needs of our members in terms of providing timely, useful and interesting information about our Y. The new site is to be found at . The URL is new; please delete/replace any old bookmarks. Off-Season Projects Update -------------------------- Rob Johnston and Brian McGinn have been busy during the off-season. They have completed a number of projects for camp improvement. Click on these links to view the various projects. These are PDF documents that require that you have a PDF viewer installed. http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Backup%20Generator.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Cabin%20Doors.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Canoes%20Kayaks.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Counselor%20Areas.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Fireplace%20Inserts.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Kybo%20Showers.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Lindner%20Lodge.pdf http://www.ymcacampecho.org/temporary/CE%20Staff%20Cabin.pdf "Send a Kid to Camp" Appeal Reaches 2006 Goal --------------------------------------------- Thanks to the generosity of numerous friends of Camp Echo, we met our goal of raising $5,000 by April 15 -- to be matched by the Frankel Family Foundation. For more information, visit http://www.ymcacampecho.org/SAKTC/ WFA and WAFA Courses Offered Locally ------------------------------------ Northwest Passage is offering WFA and WAFA this month. The courses are being taught by Wilderness Medical Associates. CORRECTION: The courses are being offered in Glenview. CORRECTION: We had the wrong WAFA dates listed last week. SPECIAL: 10% off the regular fee for Camp Echo staff. Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Sat-Sun April 29-30 8am to 6pm (16 hours total) Location: Glenview, Illinois Fee: $235 (10% off for Camp Echo Staff) Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) Wed-Sun April 26-30 8am to 6pm (36 hours titak) Location: Glenview, Illinois Fee: $375 (10% off for Camp Echo Staff) For more information, or to register, call 847-256-4409. Echo Alum Adam Walsh has been with The Northwest Passage since 2002. http://www.nwpassage.com/guides.htm Wish List - 2 iMacs Needed This Month ------------------------------------- Have you, a friend, a relative, or a neighbor recently upgraded your Macintosh computer to a fancy new G5 flat screen model? Echo really could use the all-in-one iMac G3 that was retired. Two of our oldest model iMacs died at the end of last summer. Also: 35mm cameras for the Photography Camptivity Laptop Computers -- with wireless cards installed TV/DVD/VCR for staff use in the Program Office TV/DVD/VCR for staff use in Lakeside Electric (Not Gas) Dryer for Director's House Camp Echo Annual Campaign ------------------------- Look for our 2006 mailing in May. We hope that even more alumni will donate at a level at which they can continue to give in the coming years. This year, you may be contacted by another Echo alum, encouraging you to make your donation. Your donations to the Camp Echo Annual Fund help us to keep camp program areas and facilities in top-notch shape, provide camp scholarships, and to hire a diverse staff. This summer we will be helping seven new families attend Family Camp! When you see that Echo envelope, please give generously. Embrace The Spirit! -- Rob Grierson Camp Echo Director rg@mcgawymca.org