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April Blog: Staying Connected at a Distance: The Power of Camp Friends During Social Distancing

March 31, 2020 Camp News

The power of camp friendships is one of the greatest resources of positivity as the world shuts down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staying home and practicing social distancing isn’t easy, and it is especially difficult for camp people who thrive upon human interaction. Luckily, we live in a time with a lot of resources to help us stay connected around the globe. The power of technology to reconnect and stay in touch with our communities at large has never been more important or necessary. Video chat services like Skype, Google Hangouts and FaceTime, are great ways to connect. We have seen the emergence of Zoom which was spring-boarded by online learning. As our homes have been turned into virtual classrooms, Zoom’s grid-style video chatting allows us to see each other in real time. We are thrilled to see that Virtual Hangouts are a perfect way to spend time with friends and counselors from Camp. We find it a bit ironic considering we are so anti- technology over the summer that we have found these spaces so comforting right now.

Camp Wekeela is a tight-knit community, and today’s circumstances makes everyone crave that sense of community. We are checking the countdown more frequently. We have had wonderful participation at our virtual campfires and our Instagram challenges. We encourage you to stay in touch with your camp friends. Wekeela Pioneers throughout the years are taking time to reconnect with their “camp families”. Bunks can catch up with each other for the face-to-face interaction that they usually get at camp; we believe it will truly help everyone through these tough times.

At Wekeela, we truly believe that our campers will get the support they really need now and we’re proud of the staff and campers for realizing the importance of this. Below are a few ways that you and your family can connect with the camp community like never before:

Organize an online meeting.
Talk about what you miss about camp and what you’re looking forward to in summer 2020.
Give an update on your life – how are online classes going? What is it like to be with your family 24/7?
Plan for the summer – what ideas can your bunk or friends think of now?

There are so many ways you can connect with each other and just so you know, we here on the Wekeela team are getting ready for opening day – June 27th. We have all intentions of opening camp and look forward to finally seeing each other face to face and getting back to the shores of Little Bear Pond.