Indianola Camp and Retreat Center 

March 2009

Greetings  Friends of Camp Indianola,

We are currently  busy with Many  retreat  groups coming  and going.  Our  UM  and  non- Um  group bookings  look  fairly solid  for  our  2009  Calendar at this  point.  Even with the poor economy  projections, we will hope that  we can  stay  at  least on  Parr  with  2008  stats  on  income / expenses.  The  “Experts”  tell us that  2009  and  2010  will  be  very  difficult for  most  Non- Profit  organizations.   Many  Non-Profits rely  on  endowment and Investment Interest income  as well as  annual  Fund raising  to  maintain  their  Operational  budgets….  They project  nationally that thousands of  non-profit  organizations  will  fold  or  merge  by  the end  of 2010……… a fairly  gloomy  report.

How  will  Camp Indianola sustain through this potentially difficult two year period ?

-          In setting our  2009 operational budget we did not project any increases in income  $ over  where we ended up  with 2008.

-          Our operational budget is based on approx. % 95-97 percent income generated from Guest Group/ Camper fees

-          We are attempting  to  conserve   utility  expenses  as  much as possible

-          We  are  paying  close attention to  general operational  spending

-           We  held  pay raises  to  a  minimum

-          With a  small  staff  we  can  cross train  and  fill  in  to  reduce  overhead  (  yes,  Pete does  dishes  every once in awhile )

-          We have  made very minor increase in $fees,  with the attempt  to  retain as many repeat  Guest Groups as possible

-          We are experimenting with some  promotions  trying  to  reach  a few  new  potential  Guest Groups/ Campers

-          We hope to continue  to maintain  strong relations with our UMC  constituents

-          We will attempt  some  general fund raising for  Camp Indianola

-          We will support  UM  Conference Camping and Retreat Ministries in  new fundraising efforts  ie;   “ Annual Fund  Campaign “

-           We will continue to work towards offering  affordable / quality Summer Camp Programs

-          We will continue to encourage Volunteer  support with appropriate  Operational and Program functions

-           We will try to be realistic and cautious about  “overextending” on capital Projects

-          We will work hard to avoid borrowing money to meet operational expenses etc.

-          We will ask for your continued prayer and support and we’ll trust that we will be open to God’s guidance through this….

2009 Summer  Camp  session  planning  and  Recruiting  is  happening now and  we have  launched into a partnership with our  UM Connectional Ministries on an exciting opportunity  to  assist our  neighbors, the Suquamish Tribe in hosting  a huge Tribal Canoe Journey event the first week of August.

Thanks for your continued support of Camping And Retreat  Ministries,

 Sincerely,   Pete Simpson  -  Director  Camp Indianola

Who Uses It?
The Camp and Retreat facilities of Indianola have served United Methodists of the Pacific Northwest in a variety of ways. As a PNW Conference managed operation since 1978, thousands of United Methodist children, youth and adults have attended events here each year.
Local churches hold family retreats, youth group events and men's/women's retreats. Some local church staff and committee groups have held planning and training events at Camp Indianola. Many pastors have spent time alone on this beautiful site in mini-sabbatical.
Conference-planned meetings, church leader training events, and Camping Ministries events are purposely scheduled at Camp Indianola to make full use of the facilities and wonderful property. The Conference Board of Ordained Ministry has conducted "candidate for the ministry" interviews and evaluations at Indianola.
In addition, conference and district UM youth retreats and college campus ministry events have taken place here. District clergy events, the PNW Cabinet and the Executive Staff have used this site. The Camp has also hosted some UM jurisdictional events and some participants with national UM events through the years.
Camp Indianola has continued to serve as a popular site for Camping Ministries Summer Camp Age Level Sessions, with over 100 volunteers and approx. 600 campers participating each year.
As a local outreach Mission, Camp Indianola is engaged in a Ministry of Hospitality. The facilities and grounds are available for rent to faith-based and secular non-profit educational, recreational and spiritual organizations.
For example this last year the Camp hosted religious groups ranging from Episcopalians to Quakers to Zen Meditation groups.
A variety of cultural and ethnic groups, including Korean, Chinese, Filipino, and Hispanic groups have organized events at Camp Indianola. With several of the events, English is a second language used by leaders and participants.
Other non-profit groups scheduling and renting facilities include Alcoholics Anonymous, Americorps, EPA, Marine Environmental Educators, 4-H, Scouts, local county agencies, Youth Soccer Organization, US Navy affiliated groups, and Washington State Ferries committees. Camp Indianola has also served as a popular site for many Puget Sound area public and private school groups.
Extending Camp Indianola's hospitality to groups and organizations beyond The United Methodist Church has created a positive connection with the community. We extend nurturing hospitality to these groups because we understand them to be partners in healing, justice, and personal, spiritual growth. By supporting these groups, The Pacific Northwest Conference extends its love to people and places far beyond what we will ever know. This type of outreach has also enabled an increase in income to help maintain and improve the camp for all to enjoy.
The Feb. 4th Storm of the Year 2006 may be the storm of   many decades

Saturday  morning  Feb. 4th  the  Tide  calendar predicted a 9:00 am high  tide of 12.4 feet and  the  winds out of the  South were  reported  to  be  30 -40 mph  with  gusts above  60 miles per hour…  The  sustained  winds  coming  from the  South  created  a  huge  storm  surge of  water which  washed  pounding  waves directly upon  Camp Indianola’s  waterfront.  The  rare  combination of  High  wind  and  High tide  completely rearranged  many years build up  of driftwood , beach sand / gravel  and  garbage.

At the peak  of the  storm  the  water  was  flowing  across  our  playfield three feet deep  on the  basketball court.  None of the Camp buildings were seriously damaged,  however  some  of our  waterfront  Camp  signs  and the Lifeguard equipment  station area  was  washed  away.

After  the water receded  and  the winds  slowed  down,  a  huge  mess of garbage and driftwood was  left on  much of our  lawns and playfield  areas.

With the  help of  some  super  volunteers ,Camp  Guests  and  Staff  we  have already done much to   clean  up.    On  Sunday Feb. 12th  volunteers  filled  175  garbage bags  raked  up  from  waterfront  lawns. Staff took three full truck loads to the Dump/landfill.  Staff also  rented  a  Bob Cat  machine  to  move  larger  driftwood  logs  back  along  the  normal  high  tide  mark.  We  still have  much  more  clean up  to  do  but  things  are  generally  functional. 

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