The Way I See It

Gardening is my new hobby. I’m not sure if I was inspired by having a backyard for the first time in years, or the months we’ve all spent at home. Either way, my love for plants has blossomed to the point where my husband, Khusan, is giving me serious side-eye when I want to head for the gardening section at Lowe’s. 

For someone who has spent most of his life living in a city, growing plants from a small seed seems a bit like a miracle, and in my case that’s true. As a novice, many seedlings have not made it. Still, the ones that do bring me joy. I love all the plants that I have not managed to kill. 

If I play my cards right, the lavender will come back in the spring, and the little apple mint plants I brought home from Windsor’s will grow into a nice patch we can enjoy for years to come. Now, when I’m looking at plants, I ask myself “what will survive the winter here?” 

My most ambitious project is an apple tree I’m growing from seed. At the moment, my little apple tree is six inches tall. If I manage to keep it alive, it will take at least another five years before I, literally, see the fruits of my labor. While a beginner such as I should probably not take on a project like this, I find it oddly comforting. 

In so many ways, this has been a year of uncertainty, very different from what we had planned. As we look to the coming months, planning ahead seems a bit futile as nobody knows what the coronavirus holds in store for us. 

Perhaps that’s why I love my fledgling apple tree so much. It’s my way of planning for the future, a reminder that this uncertainty will not last forever. Doing something concrete for the future feels right, perhaps not in spite of, but rather because of this time we live in. 

Here at CAMP Rehoboth we are planning for the future as well, and it feels good. Our Board of Directors has an ambitious strategic plan, and while some things are on hold, we are still charting our path forward. 

A crucial part of that plan is the hiring of two new staff members to join our team. Anita Broccolino is our new Director of Development. Anita has quite a breadth of fundraising and marketing experience from which to draw. She’s worked on three capital campaigns over her career, producing many for-profit and non-profit events and galas, including the 3,000-person National Gala for the Human Rights Campaign. 

She was most recently Director of Sales at Lefty’s Alley & Eats in Lewes, Delaware. You may even still see her image and voice welcoming you on the screen each night to their new drive-in movies. Hiring a development director has been a long-standing goal for our Board of Directors, and an important part of our long-term planning. 

Kerry Hallett is our new Operations Administrator. You may know Kerry as our social media volunteer, or as a Women’s Fest volunteer. Kerry is pursuing a Master’s of Science in Nonprofit Leadership at La Salle University. Kerry was most recently working as an innkeeper at the Dogfish Inn in Lewes, Delaware, and is also a talented singer/songwriter who performs locally. 

We’re very lucky to have an amazing staff here and I could not be more excited to welcome Kerry and Anita to the team. We have a firm foundation at CAMP Rehoboth on which to build, made possible by so many of our supporters over the years. 

As I write this, some of our supporters are still staying at home. Some, like Jen Rubenstein (see Dining Out column), are venturing out to restaurants for the first time in months. 

I don’t know when I will see some of you in person again, but I do know this: we will be ready for you! And whether you are venturing out, or staying close to home, there are many wonderful ways to be part of the virtual Sundance this year. 

Because of your support, we are able to plant the seeds today that will keep CAMP Rehoboth vibrant and growing for many years to come.