Due to staff and funding shortages, Camp Vincent will again not be open to campers this summer.
The Bothwell camp, which is run by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, also canceled its operations last summer for similar reasons.
“We have run out of grant money and we have run out of donor money,” Connie Badour, the society’s president of the Kent deanery, said. “We don’t have the physical staff to run it and we don’t have enough money to hire a camp administrator.
“We had to make the sad decision of not opening this year until we can figure out what our next steps are going to be.”
Badour said they had signed up eight counselors last year but needed 40 staff to run the camp. They couldn’t find enough people to fill needed positions like cooks, lifeguards and maintenance, she said.
“We tried everything. We advertise all over Southwestern Ontario. We just didn’t have much luck,” she said.
There weren’t any signs of improvement this year, Badour said, and the camp administrator position was crucial to ensuring the camp was properly staffed.
As well, only 40 people came to an open house held last year. Badour said 200 campers signed up in 2022, but 550 were needed.
Past grant money and donations have been used to bring older buildings, including the main hall in the former St. Ursula’s church, up to code. That work included fixing water systems and the foundations of the building.
“We’re very grateful to the grantors who gave us grant money to improve the camp and bring it up to code because it is a beautiful property,” Badour said. “It’s a very welcoming place and it has a lot of potential.”
Badour said the contributions from donors are “not in vain” because the society is still looking at “future possibilities” for the camp.
The organization has hired a lawyer who specializes in charities to look into all options for the camp.