With the YMCA taking over the daycare in Tumbler Ridge last year and the library offering the TD Summer Reading Club, Council has been wondering about the necessity of their summer program.
Now that summer is over, staff has run the numbers and discovered that 86 kids—an average of 40 per day—participated in this year’s summer camp, up from 80 last year.
The worry was a summer camp might draw kids away from the YMCA program, but according to Denis Bento, they met with the YMCA to make sure the camp was not affecting their plans. “We made sure to have a conversation with the YMCA to show our support for them,” says Bento in his report. “Our aim was to establish open communication with the YMCA and provide mutual support.”
He says the YMCA is not set up to take on 40 kids per day. “Currently, the YMCA has a license to accommodate 12 kids,” he says. “Due to their pre-registration process, they have already registered all 12 kids, indicating that they have reached their capacity.”
The Kids Summer Camp takes place over a period of eight weeks during July and August. “Camp leaders begin their work one week before the first day of the camp to receive training, plan, organize, and set up the camp,” says Bento. “Weekly registrations were taken, with a maximum of forty children per week. There were four student camp leaders who supervised around 40 kids.”
During the Kids Summer Camp, he says, children enjoy playing games, participating in sports, and creating crafts and art. “The summer camp also involves joining the library’s summer reading program. We have access to district facilities, allowing us to offer various activities such as using multiple parks, swimming at the aquatic centre, hiking the interpretive trail, and more.”
He says the majority of kids were between six and 11 years old.
In order to coordinate with the YMCA’s program, this year, the summer camp started later—at 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
Four camp leaders were hired to look after the participants, at a cost of $27,844.89 to the district. In addition, $836.92 in supplies were used. This is actually lower than 2023, as the program ran for three and a half hours less than previously.
“The Kids Camp Program is offered free of charge in order to make it accessible to all kids, regardless of their family’s financial situation,” says Bento. “Additionally, the program aims to keep kids engaged in recreational and cultural activities during the summer months, which helps reduce disciplinary issues at the community center.”
This is different than in many other communities in the region. Chetwynd, for instance, charges parents $130 per week per participant, whereas Fort St. John charges $226/child/week, one dollar more than Dawson Creek.
Councillor Norbury says he’s glad to see the program didn’t affect the YMCA. “I’m really glad we were able to find a happy medium and offer this service to the district.”
Councillor Noksana says the report answers a lot of questions that council had in the spring. “I would like to know if it has ever been discussed of approaching the YMCA to see if they would run this camp for us. They’re the experts in child care in Tumbler Ridge and it seems a fitting camp for them.”
Bento says that no, that issue was never discussed.
Mayor Krakowka says he thinks the program was a great success, and had more kids participate this year than last. “Reducing the camp hours did not affect the turnout. We actually increased by six children. Maybe it’s just because there are more families in town, but it didn’t drop in attendance, which I think is very, very important to look at when we decided to shorten the hours. And hearing back from the YMCA, it did not affect their program at all.”
At this time, the District is planning on running the camp in the future, though things might change during budget season.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
