2020 Reimagined - Summer Programming:

Two new summer projects for campers and volunteers

Camp Leo Misses You - A little bit of Camp Leo in a box 

We have put together a special box for our Campers and Volunteers because we miss you and want to bring a little bit of Leo to your home! These A little bit of Leo boxes come with a 2020 Camp Shirt, iconic camp snacks, activities to do at home and more to bring our community closer together, while at home.   

We have made several hundred boxes for our camp community, available to rising 3-12 graders living with type 1 diabetes, and community of volunteer staff. We had two drive through pick up opportunities to get your camp boxes which were so much fun! It was great to see some familiar faces!

• To reserve your box RVSP online, and your box will be mailed to you.

Camp boxes are free to all with a suggested donation of $25 to support the cost of materials and mailing.

"LEO AT HOME" : A Summer Experience from Home

We want to see our campers this summer, even if it has to be online.  "Leo At Home" will give campers the opportunity to connect with each other in July and August, during the time period when we would traditionally be up at camp. Campers will be assigned cabin groups and counselors. We will spend some time together weekly playing games, making connections with friends and spending time in community with others living with type 1 diabetes. Keep an eye on your Leo misses you boxes, as we could be using some of those items in our Leo at Home sessions as well. We are hosting three session groups bye grade levels (Elementary School, Middle School, High School), and each section will meet once a week for 4 weeks.   

Leo at Home is provided at no cost with a suggested donation of $40 per participant. 

 "Leo At Home" schedule:

High School Leo At Home: Grades 10-12

Time: 10:00 - 11:30am

Dates: July 14, 21, 28 & Aug 4

How Can You Join The Fun With “Leo At Home”?

Camper sign-up register online

Volunteer Counselor registration - Be a part of our online sessions, spend time with your ‘Cabin’ each week. (Remember to RSVP for a ‘Leo Misses You - Camp Box’ as well!)

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THANK YOU TO CAMP LEO REIMAGINED SPONSORS AND DONORS

Thank you to Benaroya Research Institute (TrailNet), Lilly Diabetes, Medtronic, Omnipod, and Tandem Diabetes for their generous support and donations for the “Camp Leo Misses You” boxes for campers and staff.

A huge THANK YOU also to Medtronic, the lead sponsor of our “Leo At Home” online camp sessions.

The generosity of these companies and organizations helps to ensure that Camp Leo can continue to offer the highest quality programming for our campers.

April 11, 2020

Camp Leo Campers, Families, Staff and Friends,

You have all been in our thoughts these last few weeks. We are writing today with difficult news we believe, however disappointing, is in the best interest of our staff, campers, and community. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and following the recommendations from our trusted medical personnel, we will be doing summer camp differently this year and will not be running our traditional residential camp programs, including LIT Weekend and our four summer camp sessions as currently scheduled.

Please see below for a Q&A with additional information on this decision and how it will impact campers already registered for 2020 camps.

We recognize this tremendously disappointing news comes at a time when everyone could use something positive to look forward to. Our staff and volunteers are 110% committed to making the most of this unfortunate and certainly unexpected situation. Planning has already started on ways to connect campers and staff through virtual meetups, social media and other creative ideas.

In the coming days, a survey will be sent out to our camper families and volunteer staff to get your input on upcoming activities and events as we make plans for Spring engagement and Summer 2020. While there is no way we can replace the traditional Camp Leo summer camp experience, we feel confident we can provide positive connections and interactions for our campers and volunteer staff through alternative programming. We are leaving the door open to the possibility of scheduling some smaller, in-person camp gatherings later in summer, if the situation allows. Your input will help us plan activities and opportunities that meet the needs of our incredible community.

We know this difficult time will pass, and when it does, we will be ready to continue providing the traditional programs you know and love. In the meantime, please watch for communications about future programming. You can always check our website for program updates as well.

We are so grateful for the time and commitment that many of you have given to our programs. We know this is a challenging time and encourage you to reach out if you have questions. We will be in touch soon with exciting, fun, and joyful news about Camp Leo + ConnecT1D and what we will be offering for the remainder of 2020, and beyond. 

Camp Leo Leadership Team

Questions and Answers

Watch our live Q&A video from April 14th.

Why did you make this decision?

As always, the health and well-being of our camp community is our highest priority. Our camp leadership team, including our medical team, have been monitoring the situation closely over the last several weeks. Given the serious nature of the ongoing health warnings, we do not believe that large group gatherings (each Camp Leo camp session typically has about 125 campers and staff) will be recommended or safe, if permitted at all, in summer.

Further, individuals with Type 1 Diabetes are considered a vulnerable population in relation to potential complications from COVID-19, with additional considerations for keeping persons safe and healthy. The medical risk and our ability to protect our campers, volunteers and staff onsite was a major concern given what we currently understand about the virus.

In addition, we understand and realize the enormous stress being put on the health care system at this time, including on our volunteer medical staff, supply chain and industry partners. Many are necessarily focused elsewhere. This situation significantly impacts our camp planning and staffing. April and May are critical planning months for our camp leadership team, and with the current uncertainty there were serious concerns about our ability to put together the adequate resources necessary for our summer residential camps to be successful.

For all these reasons, we believe this decision is in the best interest of our camp community. It was a very difficult decision for everyone involved, as our leadership team dedicates significant time and passion to the development of Camp Leo each summer, and not one that was made lightly. We appreciate so much the support and understanding of our community.

Why now?

While news changes daily and there is still a lot of uncertainty about what will be happening by summer, we felt that a decision needed to be made now. We do not believe that there will be any information available soon enough that would change the decision and the direction we are taking.      

Out of respect for our parents, campers, volunteers, and vendors, and especially those who help plan out our programs and put considerable time and energy into the process, we wanted to provide some clarity so people would know our approach and can begin to make alternative plans.

Our planning teams will now be able to focus our enthusiasm, attention and resources on providing high quality alternative programming for the Type 1 Community.

What if I already registered for Summer Camp in 2020?

Thank you so much for registering for Camp Leo Summer Camp 2020. We are sorry and also disappointed about the unexpected situation we all find ourselves in, and we appreciate your patience and understanding while we work though the next steps in the process together. Following are some basic options for how we plan to handle camper registrations and fees received to date for Summer Camp in 2020. 

• I registered but have not paid any fee: Your camper's registration will be cancelled, and you will receive email confirmation in the coming days. Please also be on the lookout for announcements about upcoming alternative programs for which you can register.  

• I registered and have paid some or all my fee: If you have made a payment of any camp fees, you have several options:  

  • Donate all or a portion of your paid registration to Camp Leo + ConnecT1D to help lessen the financial impact of this situation on our organization and offset our numerous fixed costs (registration software, processing fees, payroll, insurance, etc.), as well as help us plan for ongoing and future programming. You will receive a letter of receipt recognizing your gift.

  • Request a refund of the Camper Registration fee that you have paid to date. We do ask for your patience as it may take up to 30 business days to process the financial transactions.

  • Rollover paid fees to be applied for future 2020 or 2021 programs. As alternate summer (and fall/winter) programs are announced you may apply any money already paid to any 2020 or 2021 program. Any payment already made can be applied to Family Camp registration for this October as well. If you family is not already registered for Family Camp in October or has a remaining balance your already paid funds can be applied to Family Camp. Any fees not applied in 2020 can be applied to 2021 programs.

** By June 1, email our registrar with your decision for program fees already paid.  

Please note: if we do not hear back from you by June 1, all 2020 fees paid to date will be considered a donation, and you will receive a receipt recognizing your gift.

• I registered and have received Financial Assistance (Campership): If your camper has been notified they were awarded a campership for summer camp, we will honor this same award for any 2020 program the are eligible to attend and register for (alternate summer programs, Family Camp, etc.). You will need to register for future programs, at which time the campership can be applied. Please note that camperships will NOT rollover to 2021 programs; registration and financial assistance requests will need to re-submitted for any 2021 programs.

Please contact the registrar with additional questions.

What about LIT Weekend? 

While we will not be able to gather in person for LIT Weekend, we are excited to announce LIT Virtual Camp: T1D Teen Leadership Reimagined, on Saturday, May 30. We still intend to gather virtually with our teens (with T1D in grades 10-12 as of Fall 2020) for a one day virtual Workshop. As with LIT Weekend, LIT Virtual Camp will focus on connecting teens with T1D around fun and meaningful activities designed to foster leadership, team-building and communication. All teens currently registered for LIT Weekend are automatically registered for the May 30th event, and communications will be sent out in the coming days with more information about the structure of that workshop. The cost of LIT Virtual Camp will be $50 per camper, and any fees paid to date for LIT Weekend will be applied to LIT Virtual Camp. Any remaining fees paid for LIT Weekend, after the $50 for LIT Virtual Camp have been applied, will be handled in the same way as the process for summer camp fees (please see above). 

What about camp staff, what does this mean for us? 

We recognize this is a disappointment and a loss for our incredible Camp Leo summer staff as well. We are appreciative of the commitment and dedication of our volunteers who have made Camp Leo the very special place it is over the last 30 years. We still need your passion, excitement, skills and great ideas to help us as we approach camp differently in 2020. We are already planning many activities for Spring, and we will need lots of help from Camp Leo staff to help carry out these activities. We'll need help in running online activities for campers, moderating discussions, recording camp songs, and much more.

We welcome your input and will be reaching out directly to all of our volunteers who have applied for Summer 2020.    And as our summer plans develop, whether they will be online or in in-person, we'll need help to plan and carry out the very best activities for our campers - so those with a need can continue to experience the magic of Camp Leo! We will be reaching out at various times to ask for help, but please get in contact with us and let us know you are available as well. If you have a specific idea or question please reach out to Program Manager, Catherine Adams.