The original plan was to write about courage this week. And I’m still planning to do that next week.

But following the events over the last week I would be remiss to not mention the obvious. Tragedy struck the camp world.

Champions was not directly affected, but the impact was felt throughout our camp community and across The Hill Country.

Since last week, so many of you have reached out to see how you can help. The outpouring has been extraordinary and we’ve been trying to coordinate these efforts because we know our community at Champions and across Texas steps up to help others.

This is what we do at camp. We practice how to help when someone needs it, whether that’s at a meal, climbing the rock wall, cleaning up the cabin, or reaching out when it’s clear someone could use a hand or a pick me up.

Much of our focus this week has been on supporting our campers and continuing to create a great experience at camp.

Behind the scenes, we are also sponsoring a number of camp sessions for campers who can no longer attend their own camp this summer. Kids still need to go to camp, and we want to make sure they have that opportunity.

Because we’ve had so many requests, I wanted to let you know about some other ways to help right now:

1. If you are interested in donating locally, the Kerr County Relief Fund is one of the most direct ways to provide financial relief through local nonprofits and first responder agencies.
2. If you are interested in helping send displaced campers to camp, the American Camp Association Disaster Relief Fund is a great option.

I’m sure there will be other ways over the course of the summer and the year.

Our Double 3 session is wrapping up as I write this, and for these kids it’s been two weeks of energy, courage, confidence, friendship, fun, and all the things that make camp the place that it is.

Next week will be more of the same. This Sunday will be Opening Day for our Double 4 and Triple Play sessions. Camp will be full, activities will be running, and we even have a few surprises in store as well.

We are looking forward to the rest of the summer and also helping in any way we can. That’s what our camp family does.

Hoping this finds you well,

Erec