In recognition of CAMP Rehoboth’s 20th anniversary, we’re continuing our Volunteer Spotlight to honor many of the behind-the-scenes heroes that we’re so fortunate to have in our CAMP family.
The Spotlight is an ongoing column in Letters and features recipients who’ve been selected by the volunteers themselves and you, our readers.
If you know someone whose efforts are worthy of consideration, please make a nomination. We’ll be maintaining a database that will be used to help determine future recipients. Email us at info@camprehoboth.com and put “Volunteer Spotlight” in the subject line.
Sondra Arkin: CAMP Angel
An accomplished artist and long-time supporter of CAMP Rehoboth, Sondra Arkin and her husband, Ron Childress, reside in Washington DC. President of ArtMarket, Inc, Sondra’s talent for creating unique and powerful works of art is an obvious characterization, as evidenced by the many exhibitions and projects she has been involved with both in Washington and here in Rehoboth. But her behind-the-scenes commitment to community service in both of her “home” towns has an equally passionate place in her life. She sits on the Board of Directors at the Millennium Art Salon in DC, as well as the WPA Arts Council. She is the current Project Curator for the City Hall Art Collection at the John A. Wilson Building in DC and is the Founding Director of Mid-City Artists. In Rehoboth, from Sundance to being the creative force behind the LottoHeart project, her artistic and philanthropic presence has been felt for nearly 20 years. Her newest work, entitled Double Vision, is being exhibited at the Ward Ellinger Gallery in the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center courtyard.
When/why did you start volunteering for CAMP?
Mary Beth Ramsey (Murray Archibald’s sister and my BFF) introduced me to CAMP et al in the early 1990s when I started to come to Rehoboth regularly. We worked together back then so it wasn’t a huge leap that we would just work together some more at the beach. For my first Sundance, I wielded a glue stick and rollerbladed errands around town.
What’s been your best memory volunteering here?
On site for Sundance is always it. Every year. Even if it has hiccups. It is like a family reunion, and I’m just one of many people working to make this happen. A lot of the volunteering I do is from my desk in DC, but I much prefer being a part of it in Rehoboth. Year after year, I’ve learned so much about community and working together with this event.
What does CAMP Rehoboth mean to you?
CAMP Rehoboth is my home at the beach. It’s the center of my universe here and a place of refuge, friends, and my chosen family. But more than that, it is a legacy for the next generation who might think discrimination is gone. It isn’t yet, but we have built the infrastructure for equality to thrive.
If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you do?
Read.
“Wouldn’t you like to be a CAMPer too?” How would you help encourage someone to get involved with us?
One of my favorite things about volunteering—especially at CAMP Rehoboth– is that I get exposed to all sorts of folks whom I might not ever meet in the normal course of my day-to-day life.
SHHHH! Please provide a little known fact about you…until now, that is…
I studied maritime history and literature in graduate school so that I could teach those courses aboard a tall ship.
First thought that comes to mind when you hear the word “Rehoboth”
Family! It is where I come to be with the people to whom I am closest.
What else do you like to do in your spare time, assuming you have any?
What’s that? I love live theater and dance. I’m originally from NYC and need a fix every few months to go to museums and galleries and just walk, walk, and walk among the masses. I don’t really have much that I’d call “spare time,” too much to do!
