Dear campers, families, and friends of camp,
We’ve all overcome so many changes and challenges in the past year, and yet today I feel the pain of disappointment once again.
Due to a shortage of summer staff members caused by the national labor shortage, we had to make the very difficult decision to combine all Elementary campers into one site—TrailHead—and all Middle School campers into one site—Ranch Camp—for this summer at Carol Joy Holling Camp.
The health and safety of campers and staff has always been and continues to be, the top priority of Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (NLOM). Our staff and Board of Directors are committed to providing the high-quality care and supervision of campers that you have come to know and expect from us, while at the same time caring for the mental and physical health of our Summer Ministry Team.
Closing The Springs and Tipi Village sites at Carol Joy Holling Camp allows us to slightly increase capacity at Ranch Camp and TrailHead. This will allow NLOM to accommodate as many campers as possible, while still following CDC & American Camp Association (ACA) safety procedures for COVID-19 mitigation.
Individual camper registrations have been prioritized based on the date they registered, and all affected campers have been notified. Those unable to attend will receive a full refund. We are utilizing a waiting list for all sessions at TrailHead and Ranch Camp prioritized by the date of the camper’s original registration.
With these changes, we are still able to offer camp sessions for all age groups at Carol Joy Holling and Sullivan Hills Camps this summer. We anticipate serving more than 1,000 campers between our two camp locations, and for that we feel incredibly blessed.
“So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” -Galatians 6:9
Thank you for continuing to support the ministry of NLOM as we all navigate this challenging time.
In Christ,
Jason Gerdes, CFRE
NLOM Executive Director