The Lane - April 2025

For a PDF printable version of the newsletter, click below

Winter Retreats in Review

We had a VERY successful winter season at Camp Mardela! We hosted 3 winter retreats from February 21st-March 9th for 2nd-8th graders. This was our first time offering a separate program for Mini campers (2nd-3rd grade) and that was our biggest retreat! All three programs ran very smoothly, and had wonderful volunteers and staff who helped make it possible.

Unfortunately, we were unable to run our Youth Retreat that was going to travel to Bridgewater College for Roundtable, but we are offering 2 youth camp options this summer that are already gaining interest. We are also hosting a District Youth Retreat April 25-27 for any youth who were unable to attend our retreat.

WINTER RETREAT STATISTICS

Tween campers - 10
Mini campers - 14
Twix campers - 10
Staff - 6
Volunteers - 15
Amount of fun had - 100%

Valentine's Dinner

On Feb. 14th we hosted our first ever Valentine’s Day dinner. The 40 attendees were treated to a transformed heated Krabill Hall where they were served a delicious meal. Everyone in attendance had a wonderful time at our romantic getaway in the woods. We had couples and small groups . Of the 40 people who attended, 14 were new to Camp Mardela! What an awesome community outreach!

We raised around $1,000 and plan to hold this event again in 2026. We are already thinking of ways to make this evening more special. Save the date - Feb. 13th and 14th. We hope you will join us next year!

Projects

We had about 20 people come to our Feb. 1st service day! We were able to deep clean King & Krabill and begin organizing areas of camp. Our Tween Campers also helped repaint some screen doors. Our Thursday volunteers are working on replacing the shop chimney, insulating the pipes in Krabill, replacing the fence behind Esther, and planting LOTS of flowers and a new vegetable garden! There’s always lots to be done here, and we depend on volunteers for the upkeep of camp. Thank you to everyone who has helped!

Camp Mardela in the 21st Century!

Here are a few technological upgrades we have made:

We can swipe credit cards on-site for payments
Camper, volunteer and staff forms can be completed digitally on the website
Text capabilities on our camp phone
Improved WiFi ranging from RV sites to all of the cabins

WE'RE HIRING!

As the summer is approaching, we are pulling together our summer staff. As of right now, here are our open positions:

1 Camp Nurse (our most urgent need - required by state law)
1 Food Service Manager
1 Kitchen Staff

Camp salaries start at $400/week. We are also able to accommodate flexible schedules if needed, or hire part-time. Visit www.campmardela.org/jobs for more info.

Summer FUN-raising CAMP-aign!

As costs have been increasing, we have felt the need for greater financial support for camp programs. We used up most of our scholarship funds last year for campers in need, and also need some additional financial support to hire qualified staff - particularly a nurse. We are hoping to raise $15,000 for summer camps for scholarships, staff wages, and program expenses. You can mail donations to us, or make donations online at www.campmardela.org/donate.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Camp Auction - Apr. 12 - 8am-1pm

Easter SONRise Service - Apr. 20 - 7:30am-9:00am

Yard Sale - May 10 - 8am-12pm

Camp Prep Service Day - May 31 - 9am-5pm

Camp Appreciation Day - June 1 - 4pm-8pm

Josh Wilson Concert - June 7 - 5pm-9pm

2025 Camp Programs

BVS Updates - Justine Eckert

Our Valentine’s Dinner, FaithX/BVS Reunion, and three weekends of Winter Retreats have kept me busy! I got to flex my decorating skills with the dinner and reunion. Serving at the Valentine’s Dinner helped me discover that I may need to take on a part-time serving job once my time with BVS is over. Other than finding a new work passion, I got to know more about the experiences of some local BVS and FaithX volunteers at the reunion. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.

Our retreats were a helpful reminder of the fun and “chaos” to come this summer. I spent the first weekend as a counselor and got to catch up with a few campers I met this past summer. I worked in the kitchen the two weekends and got some great commercial kitchen experience (hopefully to be used this summer).

February and March have been some of the quickest months yet. I can only imagine how quickly this summer will feel like it’s passing. But, I look forward to our next five quick-paced months. I may just need to sleep for another month following!

Camp Mardela Wish List

Support camp by donating items big or small from our wish list. Here are some of the items on our Amazon wish list:

Outdoor landscaping rocks
reusable food storage containers
sink organizers (for soap, sponges, etc)
twin comforters
volleyball net
commercial ice machine
camp van
fire resistant & locking file cabinet. (at least 2 drawers)

For the full list, visit www.campmardela.org/donate