Florida Elks Youth Camp

Happy New Year! I hope this letter finds you, your family and your lodge happy and well.

We began registration for 2023 summer camp Dec. 1. Please be sure to get the word out to your members and community! Remember that the cost of sending a child to camp is $220 per week. Last summer, we were about 800 campers short of our max capacity. This year, we need your help to get us back to full.

As usual, every lodge has been granted 10 scholarships, paid for by a grant from the Elks National Foundation. These scholarships were sent to your lodge’s designated District Director on the Florida Elks Youth Camp Board of Directors. If you’re not sure who your District Director is, please log in and check floridaelks.org/officers/2022/florida-elks-youth-camp-inc-board-of-directors. You may contact your Director for any information on the scholarships granted to your lodge or for questions in general related to camp.

Each scholarship provides a free week of camp to one camper, and we hope that you will use them to make an impact on a child or family in your community. Please remember that each lodge can and should send more than 10 campers! If the camper’s family or your charity account can afford it, the cost is now $220 per week for each camper. If neither the camper’s family nor the lodge has the money, please send them anyway. We’ll find an Elk somewhere to cover the cost. Dates for this summer’s sessions are listed below. There is no cutoff date for registration, but it will be first come, first served. As I mentioned above, we will be pushing harder than usual this year to reach our capacity and get back to pre-pandemic enrollment. So, encourage members and families not to wait.

As always, if you have any questions regarding camper registration, please contact our Event Services Manager, Jen Scott. You can reach her by email at jen@feyc.org or by phone at 352-431-8701 (text is great!).

2023 Summer Camp

• Week 1 June 11-17
• Week 2 June 18-24
• Week 3 June 25 - July 1
• Week 4 July 2-8
• Week 5 July 9-15
• Week 6 July 16-22
• *Week 7 July 23-29

* Military Week: Dependents of veterans
and/or active military members attend
for free!

After a great success the last two years, we will again be offering three two-week sessions for our oldest campers. These sessions allow for check-in on Sunday of the session and checkout 13 days later. These sessions will allow for much more in-depth programming, and these campers will get the chance to participate in activities that single-week sessions just can’t provide. Currently, these sessions are only available to 12- and 13-year-olds.

Registration is available at
floridaelks.org/camp/, but with only 84 spots available in each session, they will fill up even faster than typical one-week spots. Two-week sessions will run during:

• Week 2 — Week 3
• Week 4 — Week 5
• Week 6 — Week 7

The cost is simply double that of a single week. So, one-week sessions are $220 and two-week sessions are $440. For lodges wanting to use ENF scholarships for this, it will simply mean using two ENF scholarships instead of one. As always, check with your District Director from the FEYC Board of Directors if you need more info, and if they can’t help, contact Jen.

One of the most often-asked questions that I receive from Elks is, “How do I know what kids are sponsored to attend camp from my area, and how many of them need financial assistance?” Our online registration system can provide a wealth of information about our potential and enrolled campers. While you cannot access our system directly, we can provide it to you. If you’d like data on kids from your area, please email — you guessed it — Jen. Upon request, she can set up a reminder to email you monthly reports on the kids who have requested to attend camp from your area. These reports show you who has used one of your 10 ENF camperships, which campers have not yet received an Elk sponsor, which campers are requesting financial assistance, how many total campers are attending from your area, etc.

I’d also ask again that if families have trouble accessing a computer to complete a camper registration, please invite them to the lodge, a local library or their school’s media center. Have a volunteer sit with them and work through the application. As with the rest, if you have questions or concerns, email Jen. She’s incredible at helping to navigate the process, even for those who may not be the most tech-savvy.

Finally, our next major state event is coming up in February, and we’d love for you to be there! The Florida State Elks Association February quarterly meeting will be at the camp Feb. 9-11. It’s a great opportunity for you to meet other Elks from across the state and to learn the latest about your major projects’ operations. This meeting is also special as it will be our Grand Exalted Ruler (GER)’s official visit to Florida. Grand Exalted Ruler Bruce Hidley and first lady Helen will be here throughout the event and will be addressing all Florida Elks at Saturday morning’s session. Don’t miss it! In addition, we’ll have great food and entertainment Friday night, as well as the opportunity to meet our GER in person. While lodging at the camp is currently full, you can still make reservations at hotels in Eustis, Tavares, Mount Dora or Leesburg. For more details, visit floridaelks.org/february-quarterly.

Thank you for all you do as Elks, and we hope to see you in February.