COVID-19 Camp Update (April 10, 2020)
Dear Gwynn Valley Families,
We are thinking about all our camper families and staff who live in so many different places both near and far and the challenges we are all facing as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you are well, focusing on taking good care of yourselves and your community, and enjoying the time with your family during this difficult situation. As humans, we weren’t made to social distance and not be able to hug our friends and family, but this virus calls us all to do our part. In these uncertain times, we are called to show courage, kindness, resilience, and patience – all character traits that we strive to help our campers develop.
Will camp run this summer? When can you expect to know more?
Two very stressful issues for people to deal with are unpredictability and the lack of control which COVID-19 has brought to all of our lives. We, like you, are grappling with these challenges daily. As April rolls on, we are practicing patience and learning to wait. As we move into May, we hope to know more about this disease and whether the social distancing and Stay-at-Home mandates from this spring will allow us to have a semi-normal summer.
While we remain eager and committed to preparing for a full summer, we will do what is necessary to protect the health and safety of our campers and staff as this has always been our top priority. We will rely on those closer to the knowledge base of this pandemic to assist us in our decision making. We expect that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, along with the CDC, will provide guidance as we move closer to summer. Gwynn Valley is an accredited member of the American Camp Association; the ACA is also providing camps with expert advice and resources for the months ahead. In the absence of clear guidance for the whole summer, we hope to make any cancellation decisions on a session by session basis. We will continue to communicate with our families about any changes or modifications as soon as we have information to share.
Covid-19 Modified Refund Policy
In the event we have to cancel your child’s session due to COVID-19, or if you have to cancel your child’s session due to required school attendance or illness related to COVID-19, our refund policy will be as follows:
- We will refund 50% of your paid tuition and roll the other 50% into the 2021 season OR you may elect to roll 100% of your tuition to 2021.
- If your child will have “aged out” of camp for our 2021 season or they are unable to attend camp in 2021, we will refund 100% of your tuition.
Our preference would be for our families to roll over all or part of their tuition to 2021. We love our campers and hope to have them back at camp for another summer of fun and enrichment! This would also help Gwynn Valley with our cash flow as our income is all based on the summer season and we have families on payroll, operating costs, and other expenses that will continue.
Gwynn Valley has been a summer camp for boys and girls since 1935 and operated during the polio outbreak, World War II, and many other difficult times in our nation. We are dedicated to partnering with our GV families and alumni in preserving this community that fosters personal challenge, a connection to nature, and the simple joys of childhood. We will get through these difficult times together and come out stronger and more resilient.
We appreciate your patience, flexibility, and support as we collectively work to get this virus under control so that we can gather in community. Please let your children know we are thinking about them, miss them, and hope to greet them in the field this summer.
Our best to you and your family,
Anne and Grant (Owners and Directors)
Maggie (Director)
