2024 Christmas Newsletter & Thank you 2024 Donors
Dear Fircomites:
It was a wonderful year for us here at Camp Fircom, filled with purpose, a strong sense of community, and many memory-making moments that will remain in our hearts forever.
We are so grateful to you, our Fircom community, for your ongoing support. There are so many ways that you helped to make the 2024 operating season a successful one for Fircom! Whether it be through attending our camp and retreat offerings and encouraging friends and family to do the same, donating much needed supplies through our Amazon wish list and much needed funds through our CanadaHelps platform, or bidding on items in our recent online auction, your generosity contributed to our growth and has set us up well for what we believe will be an incredible 2025 operating season!
Our Leadership team recently engaged in a debrief of this past season and a preliminary planning session for the 2025 operating season. We built a lot of positive momentum this year, and we are so excited about the direction that our organization is moving in. We look forward to continuing to offer the many high quality experiences that our campers, guests and retreat participants expect of their time here, and are committed to improving in areas that we have received constructive feedback about.
In 2025, we are eager to continue to grow and nurture our relationships with Knowledge Holders and Elders from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). It is both an honour and a privilege to walk alongside them and learn about their beautiful culture, teachings, and ways of knowing and being during our collaborative Walking with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Professional Development Retreat offerings, as well as our annual Camp Chá7elkwnech summer camp session.
We are keen to strengthen and enhance our relationships with our legacy groups (groups that return to Fircom year after year), as well as our amazing campers - returning and new - who help us keep the magic of Fircom alive through their enthusiastic participation in camp activities and traditions. We are also thrilled about our opportunity to collaborate and engage with the Sea to Sky Outdoor School on a deeper level in 2025.
In closing, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the hard work and professionalism of my staff team this year. There was a sense of interdepartmental cohesiveness and collaboration that we have not experienced previously, and it was a blessing to have so many folks willing to help out even when the scope of work was outside of their departmental responsibilities. I am incredibly grateful that so many of these amazing individuals are intending to work with us again during the 2025 operating season!
As my fifth year as Executive Director comes to an end, I am delighted to report that I am feeling overwhelmingly hopeful and optimistic about the future of Camp Fircom. Seeds that have been planted are beginning to sprout, and the outlook for 2025 is (knock on wood) on the precipice of thriving after four years of, in some cases barely, surviving.
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter, joy and community.
We can hardly wait to welcome you home to Fircom in 2025!
Terra McKenzie
2024 donors:
We also wish to thank all the businesses that supported our recent annual online auction. Your generosity helped us raise over $9000 dollars! This wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of one of our Board Members, Laura Rudderforth. Thank you Laura for securing well over 60 donations!