This is the Holiday Issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, and the last one of the 2018 season. Watch for the first issue of 2019 on February 8. In the meantime, visit the CAMP Rehoboth website and take a look back at articles and photos from the 2018 season. Also available on the website for most of the 2018 issues is the new page-turning version of Letters. I am proud of the Letters from CAMP Rehoboth staff for pulling together after we lost Steve and being willing to embrace the changes needed to carry on without him.▽
For the cover of this Holiday Issue of Letters, I enlisted the help of our favorite local Santa (sometimes known as Kenny Mahan). On a beautiful early November Sunday afternoon we headed to the bandstand and then right down to the water. By the time Santa was settled into his “big boy” beach chair, as he called it (I could barely lift it, by the way), and I had him arranged for the shot, we were surrounded. Adults, children, didn’t matter—everyone wanted a shot with Santa on the beach. And everyone was smiling. Santa waved and “ho-ho-hoed” his way through a far longer photo shoot than either one of us anticipated. Oddly, the crowds weren’t in the least irritating, and by the time we walked away, I felt inspired.▽
Though we are coming to the end of 2018, the outcomes and financials from 2017 are now complete and have been gathered into the latest CAMP Rehoboth Report, available in this issue and on our website. The complete audited financials, while not included in the printed report, are now available on the website, along with the 2017 990.▽
Funding for CAMP Rehoboth comes from a variety of sources including membership, grants, fundraisers, sponsors, advertisers, and, of course, donations. As is the custom of all non-profit organizations during the holiday season, we are asking our supporters to make one more end-of-the-year donation to CAMP Rehoboth. As can be seen from Chris Beagle’s President’s View column, CAMP Rehoboth has done some amazing strategic planning work this year. Out of that work we are gathering the information needed to determine what matters most to the organization and to the members of our community. Financial support ensures that we will continue to be able to provide the programing, space, advocacy, health services, and staff needed to maintain and develop the CAMP Rehoboth of tomorrow. Every organization will be asking; please think of us when making holiday donations.▽
In the weeks before Steve passed away, I stepped down from my role as President of the Board of Directors and took on the role of Interim Executive Director to get us through the crisis. In 2019, we will begin the search for a permanent Executive Director. As co-founder, I will not apply for that position. The planning work we have done all year is both to ensure a smooth transition from founder leadership and to understand exactly the requirements we need in a new Executive Director. Our goal is to position CAMP Rehoboth with the talented leadership it needs to thrive in the years ahead—someone with impeccable non-profit executive experience, and a heart as big as Steve’s. For any organization, founder transitions can be difficult. We believe this process will give us the best chance for a smooth transition. I did not want to rush into making major decisions in the months after Steve died, and I am grateful to the Board for allowing me the time to better know my own mind before moving forward. Much of this is still in the planning stages, so I don’t know just yet what my eventual role will be after we hire a new Executive Director. But I trust this process for guidance.▽
My lesson from the past year: even in grief there is still joy to be found. By whatever faith it is celebrated, may this be a joyous and peaceful holiday season.▽