2023 will see RKY Camp return to full operations is the good news reported to the Kingston Rotary Club at their June 2nd meeting by D’Arcy Munn, its Executive Director. “Not only are enrolments at 95% of 2019 numbers,” Munn said. “But the number of subsidized camperships has increased by 30%.”
It was great news after the toll the Pandemic took on the Camps’s very existence.In 2020 RKY had zero revenue as they were not allowed to operate. In 2021 there were some limited initiatives which provided little revenue. Fortunately the camp qualified for several government support programmes that help to pay permanent staff and cover fixed expenses.
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The RKY Revitalization Campaign, which had begun before the Pandemic in 2017 and ran until 2022 raised $2,046,000 that was used to build:
- A new Camp Director House,
- A new Dining and Welcome Centre, and
- A redesign of the old dining hall into a new Outdoor Centre/ Conference Hall
Future projects include a new shower house for staff and an expanded medical facility to cater to the increased needs of today's campers.
In addition, the Rotary Centennial Grant has been used to replace the camp's floating dock system and will be completed this year with the addition of a new diving tower.
D'Arcy also outlined the camp's initiatives in DEI. Specifically; the number of camperships has been greatly increased, staff wages have been increased by 50% and an employment equity fund has been established. All of these initiatives allow him to attract staff and campers from marginalized communities.
Munn also reported on the implementation of a number of Truth and Reconciliation initiatives. The camp has renamed all of its cabins from tribal names to tree species and removed all cultural appropriation practices from its programming.
RKY camp was founded in 1902 by the Rotary Club of Kingston, the Kingston Kiwanis Club and Kingston YMCA, now the YMCA of Eastern Ontario, hence the name RKY.
In addition, the Rotary Centennial Grant has been used to replace the camp's floating dock system and will be completed this year with the addition of a new diving tower.
D'Arcy also outlined the camp's initiatives in DEI. Specifically; the number of camperships has been greatly increased, staff wages have been increased by 50% and an employment equity fund has been established. All of these initiatives allow him to attract staff and campers from marginalized communities.
Munn also reported on the implementation of a number of Truth and Reconciliation initiatives. The camp has renamed all of its cabins from tribal names to tree species and removed all cultural appropriation practices from its programming.
RKY camp was founded in 1902 by the Rotary Club of Kingston, the Kingston Kiwanis Club and Kingston YMCA, now the YMCA of Eastern Ontario, hence the name RKY.
This story was written from notes supplied by Rotarian Don Heath.
For a more in depth description of how RKY Camp, one of Ontario's premier summer camps since 1902, survived The Pandemic of 2020-2022 and re-emerged stronger than ever in 2023. Watch D'Arcy Munn's speech.