Summer Camp 2020

**Operations have been suspended through the end of this summer in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.**

Hickory Cove Friends and Family,

After much prayer, discussion, and counsel, Hickory Cove has decided to suspend operations through the end of this summer in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite being a unanimous decision by the board and myself, this was an extremely painful and heartbreaking decision for us.

So why did we come to this decision?

There were three key risks that we identified that ultimately lead to us suspending operations through the end of this summer:

1. Health/Safety Risk – The health, safety, and well-being of our campers, staff, and guests is one of our top priorities. Based on guidance by medical professionals and our camp consultants, the risk was too high for the health and safety of our campers, staff, and guests if we were to run camp this summer.
2. Reputational Risk – The reputation of Hickory Cove has a major impact on our ability to do ministry. The trust of our families, staff, guests, and community is something we take very seriously. If we help spread a pandemic and are unable to keep our campers, staff, and guests safe, we lose that trust.
3. Financial Risk – Considering the additional expenses associated with the multitude of health and sanitation changes that will be required to reopen camp this summer coupled with projected lower registration numbers, running summer camp this year potentially digs a huge financial hole for us that will be difficult to recover from.

Why make this decision now?
We don’t foresee things changing enough in the next several weeks that would give us a level of comfort to run camp this summer.  Given that, taking camp “offline” now (cutting off power to buildings, leaving the pool closed, not purchasing summer camp supplies and equipment, etc.) allows us to save $10,000/mo in expenses. The longer we take a “wait and see” approach, the more at risk we put Hickory Cove financially. Making the decision now also gives us an opportunity to love our neighbor well by giving our:

• guest groups additional time to find another host for their event this summer
• summer staff time to find another summer job
• families time to find another camp this summer

If we had to sum up all of the above, it would be this…

We are willing to sacrifice short-term ministry so that we can continue to do long-term ministry here at Hickory Cove.

Please be praying for us. We need continued wisdom to navigate through all of this. Additionally, with no revenue coming in from summer camps and guest groups, we will need to lean on donors now more than ever to help us get through this season.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.


Praying with you,

Micah Chin | Executive Director