Dear Camp Joy Family,
We hope everyone is having a safe and healthy new year. This past year has been a challenge for all of us. We now face difficult decisions, both personally and for our beloved Camp Joy. We are thankful for the speedy development of vaccines and pray for continued improvement to their distribution. At this point, our Camp Joy medical professionals believe that we will not see the full positive impact of COVID vaccines until this fall. We love our campers, counselors and staff volunteers very much and would be devastated if anyone were to get sick. We recognize that for many of our campers, the risks of contracting COVID-19 are too great. Additionally, the amount of restrictions and requirements from local health departments in place to ensure safe overnight camps would sadly take away much of what makes Camp Joy so special. As directors, we have made the difficult decision to not hold overnight camps this summer at any location. We want to make sure that when we do return to camp, we are all safely together- experiencing once again the JOY of close fellowship with one another. We are praying for a full return to overnight Camp Joy in 2022.
We will continue to host Camp Joy Explosions once a quarter, to virtually worship and spend time with one another. In addition to the Explosions, each location will be looking into special ways to bring Camp Joy to our campers, counselors and volunteers in a safe manner. More information about each location will be coming soon. Thank you for your understanding and prayers. Please know that this decision was not made lightly.
Sincerely,
Brent Turner – Executive Director
Dr. Jack Faircloth – Medical Director
Bob Elliott – Camp Joy Board
Darcia Munro – FL Director
Neal Stroup – NC Administrative Director
Beth Tuten – SC Co-Director
David Harrell – SC Co-Director
Emma Hartman – VA Co-Director
Krysta Trout – VA Co-Director
