Photo: Archibald Family Christmas 2013.
Home for the Holidays
In sixty years I’ve never missed our family’s Christmas celebration. We do a northern and a southern Thanksgiving, but come Christmas we all manage to find our way back to Alabama—with our motley collection of canine companions in tow.
Now that my nieces and nephews are growing older, every year there is a new boyfriend or girlfriend, or husband or wife. Sexual orientation is fairly evenly divided among that younger generation, and no matter gay or straight, all are welcome at the Archibald table—though I don’t promise any peace and quiet. Silent night has never been an apt description of our Archibald family Christmas.
In the heart of all that Christmas chaos, and even with all of our wildly eccentric ways, we are a family that respects individuality, celebrates creativity, and believes in the power of love to change the world.
My family reminds me of our CAMP Rehoboth Community Center—and especially our vision to be “the heart of the community.” From our perspective here, we have the opportunity to see and work with all the many “families” who make up this amazing little place we call home.
It is no accident that the CAMP Rehoboth logo is a house with a heart in it, or that the idea of creating a home “with room for all” has always been a core mission of this organization.
Back in the days when we first started talking about expanding CAMP Rehoboth into a full service community center (sometime around the turn of the century), we created that “heart of the community” vision. We’ve used that phrase ever since, but it was accompanied by a vision statement, written at the same time, that is perhaps not as well known: ”The CAMP Rehoboth Community Center is an inclusive space with and without walls, which creates and nurtures a focal point for connecting people, activities, and resources—embracing diversity as an essential component. The Center is the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community’s contribution to creating a home for all.”
Since the day that statement was written, I have loved this concept that the Community Center would be a contribution—a gift—to the greater community around it. It is especially fitting during this holiday season that we talk about gifts.
That family Christmas celebration I just mentioned would never have developed as it has without the love and spirit that my parents infused into it when we were children. They wrapped up Christmas into a holy and magical experience and gave it to us as a gift. To this day, a few of the books we read every year as a family continue to find their way onto our Christmas coffee table. One of those books is The Littlest Angel, which tells the story of how a small boy’s humble gift outshone all the grand ones around it.
We see that kind of generosity in great abundance here at CAMP Rehoboth. The people of this community give of themselves all the time: they give their resources, they give their time, and they give their talents. In the act of giving, they become the gift—they become the house with a heart in it, the space without walls, and the home with room for all.
Like the seasons before it, 2014 comes to a close for us with a mix of satisfaction for a job well done, regret that there was not enough time to do all that needed to be done, and a good bit of nostalgia for the months that have already become ancient history. This time, however, there is a difference: 2015 is the 25th anniversary of CAMP Rehoboth and Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. As we quickly approach that milestone, I can’t help but think, not just of the past year, but of the past quarter century. Never has there been a better time to talk about gifts!
The very nature of a non-profit organization means that fundraising is almost always a part of any discussion. Funding for CAMP Rehoboth and the Community Center is not limited to any one source. In 2015, revenue from this magazine will continue to provide close to a quarter of our budgeted income—so thank you to our advertisers for years of support. Another big chunk of that budget will come from our Membership Program, and still more from our sponsors, events, and rental income (both room and property). Again, thank you to everyone who gifts us with your support. Volunteers too, contribute to our bottom line every year by donating thousands of hours of creative energy, leadership skills, and people power to CAMP Rehoboth. Again, thank you!
Nobody likes to ask for money, but because I passionately believe that the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center is a gift to the whole community, I willingly put on my fundraiser cap and do it.
In making financial plans for 2015, please consider: making an end-of-the-year gift to CAMP Rehoboth; becoming a member or upgrading an existing membership; or becoming an Annual or Premier Annual CAMP Rehoboth Sponsor.
Those gifts will guarantee that CAMP Rehoboth will be able to continue to provide a “home,” not just for the holidays, but for a long time to come.
Murray Archibald, CAMP Co-founder and President of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in Rehoboth Beach. Photo: Archibald Family Christmas 2013.