Knowing I would miss the first Camp iRock planning meeting, I had a very serious conversation with the Camp iRock partners that my ability to raise enough money to cover kindergarten was next to impossible. Sadly, it was decided to cut classes. There are no words to describe my heartbreak because I LOVE those kiddos. Reality is reality. You can only do what you can do.
Well, imagine my surprise when I received the report from that first meeting and learned that not only did we not cut classes, we added a full class of K4 and K5 along with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. Potential total number of children…588!
What’s a girl to do? Hustle. Pound the pavement. Leave no stone unturned. And that’s what I’m doing.
Here’s where we stand. Camp iRock is only a month away and I find myself stressing over the last $50,000 I have been unable to raise. I’ve exhausted all of the sources in Pickens County and now I am at a crossroads…cut Camp iRock classes…or go to our loyal friends and donors and ask them to give again.
It may seem that cutting the budget is the logical thing to do, but then I think about what that would mean for the children who need Camp iRock, now more than ever. Kindergarteners, 1st and 2nd graders who missed their formative education during the pandemic, have suffered the most learning loss. One summer at Camp iRock will turn their lives around and put them on a path to a great education and great future.
So, I am asking you Pickens County…pleading really…to help fully fund Camp iRock. I normally wouldn’t push but if you can give today, I can go ahead and hire the YMCA counselors and Call Me MiSTER interns to support the teachers in the Camp iRock classrooms.
The children who will be able to attend Camp iRock, because of you, will gain something priceless: the power READ, the power to DREAM, and the potential to one day LEAD!
There are really no words to express my gratitude to our community. You always step up. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To make a donation online www.uwpickens.org or you can send a check to United Way of Pickens County, PO Box 96, Easley, SC 29641. If you decide to mail a check, please email me at jcapaldi@uwpickens.org so I can add it to the total.
Julie Capaldi is the president of the United Way of Pickens County. Reach her at jcapaldi@uwpickens.org. Opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer only and are not necessarily shared by the newspaper.