Summer camp is back in Alberta but with some hesitation
Global News
Summer camps are back again in Alberta but with some hesitation.
Summer camp has been a part of Chloe Pekarsky’s life since she was 10.
The University of Calgary student says her time at Camp Chief Hector YMCA was always the highlight of the summer.
“It was my favourite place to go to. I would definitely say life-changing,” Chloe said.
“I was a pretty shy kid when I was little, so I think camp made me more of a confident person. It really allowed me to grow.”
Chloe became a camp counsellor at Camp Chief Hector for a year, but her plans to continue stopped in 2020 because of COVID-19.
“We always knew how important it was, but like most things, you don’t realize how important they are until they’re gone,” said Chloe’s dad Adam Pekarsky.
The overnight camps will be back at the YMCA camp in Kananaskis, but Camp Chief Hector is need of upgrades. The YMCA is now looking to the provincial government for $4 million as part of a $14.5-million fundraising campaign.
“Getting our kids back outside playing in nature and getting their noses out of their screens — I don’t think that’s an overly polarizing topic. I think from a political or government perspective, it would be a relatively easy one to get behind,” said Adam, who has been a board member of Camp Chief Hector for eight years and is also the chair of the current capital campaign.