Camp Discovery 2011 !

•  Camp Discovery 2011 was again a wonderful success for children in the Plainfield area entering grades 3, 4, and 5, ages 8-11.
• The Camp was held at the United Church of Christ - Congregational, Plainfield and funded by donations to the United Plainfield Community Development Corporation.
• We have Mr. Eric Halpern as the Camp Director.
• The Theme for this year's camp was "Building Self Esteem".
• The Camp ran from June 27 to July 29. 
• The generous sliding scale again  ranged from $25 - $150 per week, per child, based on family income and size.
• The class trips and swimming were included in the weekly fee. 
• Applications are available in English and Spanish.

CAMP DISCOVERY 2010  

• Camp Discovery is a camp for Plainfield area children entering Grades 3, 4 and 5, ages 8-11. 
• The Camp is held each Summer at the United Church of Christ Congregational Plainfield and funded by donations to the United Plainfield Community Development Corporation.
• We are happy to have Mr. Eric Halpern on board as the Director. He is a science teacher at Maxon Middle School. Counselors are: Laura Arrington, who lives in Plainfield and teaches in Newark, Roshni Patel, who returns from the University of Puerto Rico and has had several younger relatives in past Camps, and James Williams, a graduate of Plainfield High School, who has had experience as a youth counselor.
• The theme was “Cooperation and Service in Community”. Activities will include
  planting and caring for a community garden on site, park cleanups, relevant field trips, swimming and enrichment classes. In 2010 the campers enjoyed trips to the Turtle Back Zoo, The Liberty Science Museum, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Bowcraft amusement park, and a Science class at Sandy Hook. Also the class took numerous trips to swim.
• Camp ran from June 28 to July 30th.
• Generous sliding scale: $25 - $150 per week, per child, based on Family income and size.
• The class trips, swimming, breakfast, and lunch were ALL Included in the weekly fee!

• Here is what one family with three children in the Camp wrote about the 2008 camp:
  
  "We would like to say how pleased we were with the camp and its employees, from the counselors to the director. Our kids enjoyed every aspect of the Camp from the field trips to the arts and crafts. Thanks,   The 'C' Family"

The Camp enrolled 45 children in grades 3-5, with an average attendance of about 37 each day for the eight weeks.  We were pleased that we could double the length of time this year from four to eight weeks and to be able to enroll an additional ten children.

Most important was the quality of the interactions among the campers and counselors, as well as the fun and learning that took place.  Our director created the theme of “Habitats: Land, Air and Water” that was the focus of daily lessons and some field trips.  The Camp also offered special sessions on reading and math along with arts, crafts, singing, acting and special lessons taught by both church volunteers and a representative of the 4-H Club.

Weekly outings included swimming at the YMCA, a day at the library and a field trip.  The Camp went to the Newark Conservancy, the Newark Museum, Trailside Museum & Watchung Reservation, Turtle Back Zoo, the Camden Aquarium and Bowcraft Amusement Park.

The final celebration, now on video tape and DVD, consisted of a series of three skits illustrating at least one aspect of the Habitats theme, music and dance.  Our director, the three adult counselors, and the twelve youth counselors did a superb job of engaging the campers, teaching and leading.  That celebration was exceptional!

Our budget was razor tight - at one point we were ready to cut back to seven weeks, but then received additional donations to help keep us going.  We are very proud that we could offer families this high quality experience for their children for only $15 per week.

Approximately half of donations for the 2008 camp came from our Service Auction and individual donations from our congregation.  This is a true miracle and a blessing!