Camp Valaqua welcomed approximately 30 enthusiastic volunteers at its spring work day on April 30. Volunteers and staff focused on cleaning up brush and splitting wood.
“Our woodshed went from a few sad sticks to full in just a day!” says Jon Olfert, Valaqua’s camp director.
Volunteers also repaired the siding on one of the buildings and cleaned the eavestroughs.
“It was joyful to be together again,” Olfert says. “Many of these folks attend every year and, for some, this is their major connection to camp. The day becomes a reunion of sorts.”
“In terms of summer camps, the pandemic has really highlighted how important it is to just be together,” he says. “The community we build promotes healing and growth, and I personally didn’t know how much I relied on that until it was gone. That and singing. . . . I can’t wait to sing together again!”
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Louisa Adria, a Foothills Mennonite Church youth worker, carries a log at Camp Valaqua’s annual spring work day on April 30. (Photo by Ruth Bergen Braun)
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