Budget for Camp Discovery
| Budget Items | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (partial) | 2025 (proposed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office/Newsletter/Fundraising/Admin | 5,663.00 | 4,760.00 | 1,780.00 | 5,500.00 |
| Supplies (non-food) | 6,265.00 | 4,320.00 | 1,800.00 | 5,300.00 |
| Insurance | 18,313.00 | 16,638.00 | 17,031.00 | 17,250.00 |
| Utilities (water) | 326.00 | 455.00 | 25.00 | 500.00 |
| Field Trips/Swimming | 11,301.00 | 14,553.00 | 3,599.00 | 13,500.00 |
| Food and Food Prep | 9,896.00 | 8,920.00 | 2,635.00 | 9,500.00 |
| Payroll and Taxes | 66,538.00 | 75,705.00 | 32,430.00 | 75,000.00 |
| Total Expenses | 118,302.00 | 125,351.00 | 59,300.00 | 126,550.00 |
Budget Notes
The two-year COVID hiatus hurt us. It has been like starting over. Two years of inactivity seemed to erase us from parents' minds as a summer option for their young people. In 2022, our registrations were down by 25%. We discovered that many field trip venues had either closed or raised their fees by 200% or more. Our staff costs increased dramatically, Insurance and field trips were in second and third place in terms of expenses. Office/Newsletter/Fundraising/Admin amounts to 5% of our expenditures. (Dave Sugarbaker is a full-time volunteer for Maysville Initiatives.)
Camp in 2022 was interrupted by two outbreaks of COVID. On each occasion, we took the advice of the Mason County Health Department and closed Camp for five days. These closures hurt us. When Camp reopened after each quarantine, our attendance dropped. The closures were unavoidable, but had an impact on our camper population. Consistent childcare was more important than COVID safety, to some.
Experience has taught us that we need to maintain a counselor-to-camper ratio of 1-to-10 or 1-to-12. If we don't maintain that ratio, Camp becomes an unpleasant experience for everyone. In addition to staff and volunteers, we have approximately a dozen teenagers, ages thirteen to seventeen, who volunteer as "Junior Counselors". These teens are often "graduates" of Camp Discovery, and are well-known to staff. Our Junior Counselors are enthusiastic and generous with their time and energy. We don't pay them, but we make sure each JC has a letter acknowledging their gift of volunteer service hours to Camp Discovery, and advise them to keep their letter until job or college applications come along.
Breakfast and lunch come to us through the Methodist Food Program, out of Covington, Kentucky. They act as an intermediary for a federal summer food program for youth 18 and under. There are very specific rules that come with the program: lots of reports, and periodic on-site inspections to verify compliance with federal rules. There is one staff person whose job is to see that we keep the food program people happy.
We also offer a mid-afternoon snack, before campers go home. The costs of providing this daily snack to 100+ campers per day is a significant expense (not part of the federal food program).
We have two used school buses we use for field trips and for transportation to and from swimming at the Augusta Pool. (In 2022 Maysville's Washington Rec. Park couldn't accommodate Camp, due to limited lifeguard staff.) We have built a good relationship with the Augusta Pool staff, and have continued to take campers there in 2023 and 2024.
Newsletters, mail solicitation and general administration amount to 3-5% of our total Camp budget. Our "begging letters" and newsletters to contributors are an important tool for informing our community about Camp Discovery. We send out 200+ full-color newsletters per edition, that communicate some of the excitement of Camp.
Supplies (non-food) and equipment is an important expense. This includes first aid supplies, recreational equipment and counselor and JC shirts. We go through large quantities of band aids and antibacterial ointment, daily! In some cases, we treat campers for head lice and buy an occasional pair of shoes or a swimsuit. We have also helped outfit a few campers who we discovered had no clothes but the clothes on their backs. We have also pitched in for clothes for school in the fall, when we know they have no other resources.
Campers are at the Beechwood Shelter and Park for three days out of five each week during the summer. On their in-Camp days, recreational opportunities include a large grassy playing field, two full basketball courts, a playground with swings, and a huge sandbox. For quieter times, there are age-appropriate books from the Mason County Library, board games, Twister, blocks, face paint and sidewalk chalk.
In 2023 we added a new wrinkle. We have been feeding young people Monday through Friday, but what about the weekends? We know on Monday mornings, we have some very hungry kids, who haven't had proper food resources over the weekend. With the help of the Methodist Food Program, we are now sending 90-100 weekend food packs home on Friday with our campers. We can't control who eats the weekend food, but we are doing what we can.
In spring, 2024, the City of Maysville installed new playground equipment at Beechwood Park. The campers have been excited to test its' capabilities and dimensions of fun they can find.