Twenty or more kids will have the opportunity to attend BGC Cochrane and Area summer camps for free this year thanks to a generous group of volunteers.
Madan Bista, Alf Leslie and Paul Singh banded together for a community bottle drive, raising more than $5,600 for the non-profit in honour of its 30th year of operation in Cochrane.
"This is something where kids can experience the amazing organization that the Boys and Girls Club is," said Singh. "This is just a small contribution and it's all because of the people that live here."
Singh said he thanks the community for making the opportunity to attend summer camp possible for kids and families who otherwise may not be able to afford it, especially after the last two years.
"We are getting out of the pandemic and kids want to have this experience," he said.
"People are always [experiencing] ups and down," added Bista. "Everybody's giving a little but at the end, it adds up."
The group collected $394.85 from the bottle drive, Leslie made a cash donation of $100, Cochrane Hoppers 2.0 basketball donated $30, and Singh personally made a donation of $5,100 to support the work at BGC, but also in honour of his mother, who recently retired after 30 years of teaching in India.
"She just retired after a long career, so this is in celebration of her too," said Singh.
Maureen Topp, BGC manager of licensed programs, said the community's contributions will break down barriers for many families this summer.
"The cost of child care in the summer for families is quite a bit more than during the school year, for school-aged children in particular," she said.
The fee to attend a five-day summer camp at BGC is $275 per child and the four-day camp is $225 per child, compared to a $460 monthly rate for mornings and afternoons during their regular programming for children in Grades 1 to 6.
The camps run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, beginning July 4 and ending August 26. Before- and after-care is an additional $25 per week.
Although it's not a sleepaway camp, Topp said it's still a great experience that staff strive to make fun for kids.
"They have so much fun playing games, on field trips and outings. Every kid should have the chance to experience summer camp," she said.
The camp is open to school-aged children from Kindergarten to Grade 6, and Topp said not only is it fun, but also a critical part of development, especially in the early years.
"It's a place where kids can have these kind of foundational experiences," she said, adding the pandemic has created challenges in catering to those needs.
"We really try to make sure their summer camp experience is very positive. There's team building opportunities for the kids, we demonstrate and model skills like problem-solving, cooperation, patience, empathy and tolerance ... and they can just be kids and play games."
To learn more and sign up for summer camp at BGC, or to assist with volunteering opportunities, visit their website.
