“The community is too good, and the community is so supportive.”
That is how Dave Horton, the Director of Ness Lake Bible Camp (NLBC), announced hundreds of Prince George kids will be given the chance to spend a week at camp for free this summer.
Through fundraisers like the Polar Bear Dip and Cans for Kids, NLBC has been able to pick a school to sponsor each of the last few years, like Harwin, Quinson, and Westwood, and to offer their kids a free week at the summer camp.
“The community support has come in at a level that we have been able to scale it up,” Horton explained, noting this year’s Polar Bear Dip raised $28,000. “We looked at the finances of it and realized we could reach out way beyond one school.”
This year, NLBC is sponsoring the entire Hart community – including Salmon Valley and the Lakes Community – in partnership with Lakes Community Church and Hartland Baptist Church.
Registration opens on Saturday, Horton said families can drive through either of those two churches from 9:00 – 5:00 to sign their kids up for a week of camp.
“You just need to prove you live in the Hart, show some ID, do some paperwork, and then we hand you a code to register for any camp this summer,” Horton said.
Anyone who can’t make it out on Saturday and is still interested in the offer is being asked to contact either of those two churches to get the appropriate paperwork.
NLBC is expecting hundreds of kids to go to camp on this fund.
“There is money in the bank that we want to make sure goes towards what people have donated to,” Horton said, “Which is that kids who otherwise can’t afford to come can come to camp.”
The exact estimate on how many kids NLBC can cover is up in the air, as different camps kids can be signed up for have different costs.
“The cost of camp keeps rising, as it has to… but in the end camp runs at a loss,” Horton said. “There are a lot of people that sacrifice a lot every year to make it happen.”
He added someone who does not live in the Hart who can’t afford to send their kids to camp does not need to worry, there is a general fund NLBC has that can help cover the costs of a week at camp that parents or caregivers can contact camp and ask about.
“We really do think every kid deserves to come to camp and deserves that week of what camp offers,” Horton explained. “It is a week where they are out on their own under fantastic supervision.”
He also said camp has “all the toys,” ranging from paintball and archery to the brand new giant swing over the water and a zipline.
“That’s not even the stuff kids are getting excited about when they go home, they are excited about the relationships and friendships they built, new skills they learned, looking after themselves for a week, and doing that in a really safe environment,” Horton said.
Horton pointed out it is Ness Lake Bible Camp, and said “we are also presenting our world view and allowing kids to respond for, against, wherever kids are coming from, and learning to have those conversations in a mature way.”
You can learn more about NLBC and the Hart sponsorship offer here.
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