What Happens at an Onaway Trustees’ Meeting?
April 2023
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By Liz Porter Hawkins (Alumna and Trustee)
The Onaway Board of Trustees moves around the country for two of its three meetings annually. Every summer we hold our meeting at Camp so that we can observe all the programs in action and learn from the camp community. This spring, for the first time, the board meeting was held in Colorado where a few of our trustees live. The staff and trustees gathered in Evergreen, CO on Friday, March 31 for a weekend full of meetings and a dinner with the local alumnae.
Our full agenda always includes a careful analysis of our budget and finances. Onaway continues to be among the most affordable sleep-away camps, and we are committed to providing financial assistance to the best of our ability. The Onaway Fund is key to this commitment and to hiring excellent staff and providing quality programs and activities and healthy meals. At the spring meeting, trustees personalized the director’s Onaway Fund letters to encourage philanthropic support from our alumnae and families. We take time to do this because we simply couldn’t run camp effectively with our Onaway Fund supporters!
We also review the state of our facilities. This spring we saw pictures of all the great work Mr. Gene is managing at camp including the construction progress at Off-Away and Woodland Hall. We are excited for the girls to enjoy the new Arts & Crafts and Ceramics rooms, the spaceous Ping Pong Piazza, and the expanded stage inside our beautiful Woodland Hall with the new Stage Craft area beneath it. These much needed improvements are the result of trustees, staff, donors, and volunteers committing tremendous time, talent, and treasure to the WIDE AWAKE Capital Campaign. There was much gratitude in the air at this spring meeting!
Onaway staff and trustees must always be learning about issues that impact girls and women today. We had open-hearted conversations about gender identity and the challenge of being true to our Onaway mission while supporting campers in becoming their true and best selves. These are sensitive conversations calling for everyone’s commitment to learn, listen, research, and speak one’s mind and heart. And we are fortunate to have subject experts among us, as well as strong, respectful leadership, allowing the group to “meet the challenges of today’s world with honesty, sensitivity, and courage.”
Saturday evening we enjoyed a gathering with alumnae from the greater Denver area. Director Barrie Pendergast gave an update about camp, we managed to sing grace in a round, and shared a delicious dinner with lots of stories and laughs. It is wonderful for trustees to meet former campers and counselors as well as the alums to meet the trustees and staff. It’s always fun to reconnect and network with other Onaway people. When an Onaway Board of Trustees meeting is held in a location near you, please try to join us for the social gathering so we can keep our Onaway community connected!
