Hello Woodseys!

It has been a couple of very exciting weeks for UniCamp as volunteer recruitment officially ended  last Friday. However, the UCLA campus has not been the only place to see action, as cabins undergo construction at River Glen with the help of the Weingart Foundation Grant, and Rush 49, a website, hosts a contest to find the “Best Charity in LA”, UniCamp is active throughout the Southland. Read on for more information about volunteer recruitment, more cabins for River Glen, and UniCamp’s victory as the best charity in LA!

Rush 49 

UCLA UniCamp was entered into a contest with 11 other charities by Rush 49 in search for the  “Best Charity in LA”. Part of a campaign to promote itself, Rush 49, a Groupon- like site, held an online poll to determine its top three winners. After three weeks, UniCamp emerged as the clear winner with a staggering 52.1% of the votes. As such, we will be a featured partner for four months in their first year of operations. Also, certain items will be “Charity Items’, and we will share 50% of the proceeds that Rush 49 makes on those items.

http://promo.rush49.com/best-of-la/best-charity.php

Weingart Foundation 

Previously, UniCamp received a $500,000 grant to help renovate and build the current 13 cabins at Camp River Glen. After the $500,000 was spent, there were still four unfinished cabins. Although their foundations were built, the cabins themselves were not. This year, we were given an $85,000 grant from the Weingart Foundation to complete these last four cabins. Construction started a week after the grant money was received and 2.5 cabins have already been built. All cabins will be ready to use by the start of the camp season. With this grant, UniCamp will increase its capacity to:

  • 15 Classic Camp Cabins
  • 2 UniCorps Cabins
  • 2 SAIL Cabins
  • 1-2 WALL units
  • total capacity of 195-204 campers each session

This will amount to the largest camp sessions ever at Camp River Glen.

Volunteer Recruitment 

Since the beginning of January, the Recruitment Committee on the Leadership team have prepared to recruit the 500+ student volunteers that will run the seven sessions of camp this summer. Student volunteers are a unique bunch, some are funny, shy, outgoing, energetic, some are Physics majors, English majors, dancers, gamers, but they all share one quality that ties them all together: an unmatched, genuine enthusiasm to work with our campers. With that said, the Recruitment Committee had their work cut out for them. Emails were sent to student organizations and department heads, presentations were made on the Hill, Facebook saw a plethora of status updates about UniCamp, and countless hours were spent fliering on Bruin Walk. With their recruitment tanks on every day, Leadership and Old Woodseys told all their friends about UniCamp and its mission. One “Ride that Pony” Flash Mob, dozens of classroom presentations, and countless fliers later, we are very excited to report that UniCamp received a record number of applications this year. Over 600 student volunteer applications! Interviews are underway this week, and we look forward to the many new Woodseys this camp season.