The operator of summer camps for deaf youth is breathing a sigh of relief after donors stepped up to cover a funding shortfall.
Cecilia Klassen, executive director of Family Network for Deaf Children (FNDC), told the Now in mid-June that FNDC’s Deaf Youth Today camps were short about $35,000 going into this year’s program of five day camps in Burnaby and a week-long overnight camp on Hornby Island.
She was considering dipping into the organizations emergency fund to save this year’s planned camps. Klassen said doing so would likely mean next year’s camps would have to be scaled back or cancelled altogether
But donors have stepped up with contributions large and small since the original story ran and have completely filled that $35,000 hole.
“It’s amazing to think that people out there care,” Klassen said. “You always hope they do, but then something like this is so heartwarming.”
While she said she is grateful for the generosity of one-time donors, Klassen said she hopes to find sustaining donors willing to donate annually.
The bulk of funding for Deaf Youth Today comes from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, but FNDC is left to raise an additional $65,000 each year from donations and grants to cover its costs.
Klassen said this leaves FNDC’s small staff spending time fundraising every year when they could be planning even better camps for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth.
Deaf Youth Today camps cater to children who often have concurrent special needs, such as autism, blindness and the need for a wheelchair. This means many require one-on-one care from counselors, making the camps more expensive to run than other summer camps, Klassen explained.
