Why LUM Camp Matters
Message from Wes Tillett, LUM Executive Director
Who do you see in these photos?
Do you see teachers, lawyers, moms, dads, entrepreneurs, professional athletes, construction workers, and social workers? They are all there – children who received the amazing blessing of LUM Camp and who are now making the world a better place.
Do you see a future LUM Camp Director in these photos? She’s there – the one smiling shyly on the horse – Marlena Edmondson. In the late 1990s, she attended LUM Camp for the first time. It was a life-changing experience for her. More than twenty-five years later, Marlena has a Master’s degree and extensive experience working with children (as a school social worker). She invests her education and experience into maximizing the life-changing experience of LUM Camp for 84 local children each summer.
Look again at the joy, adventure, and wonder in these faces. That’s the beauty and impact of LUM Camp.
LUM Camp (my favorite week of the year) is a world-class camp experience available to our local children. And it’s only possible because of you. LUM Campers get to swim, enjoy arts and crafts, paddle canoes, attend morning chapel around a campfire, climb walls, eat delicious snacks and meals, participate in educational activities, and flourish in the care of diverse and nurturing counselors. This experience is almost entirely paid for by kind-hearted sponsors such as you. The children at LUM Camp come from families served throughout the year by Lafayette Urban Ministry. We ask the campers’ parents to pay $5 per child (while the actual cost is more than $400 per camper), and ask our generous donors to cover the rest.
I love LUM Camp because I know it has immediate benefits (fun, education) and long-term impact (interpersonal skills, self-confidence, gross and fine motor skills, positive outlook, and more) in each camper’s life.
LUM Camp provides 84 local boys and girls (ages 8, 9, and 10) with an educational, super-fun, weeklong, overnight camp. It’s a key component of the LUM Youth Programs (which also include the 5th Quarter Summer Learning Program).
LUM is eager to host LUM Camp once again this July 27-31. This year, we needed to change locations. We will be at the lovely Jameson Camp (located four miles north of the Indy Airport). Camp costs are significantly higher, but we are determined to continue providing a top-notch camp experience for our local children.
Would you please consider a gift to support the LUM Youth Programs and send a child to LUM Camp? Your contribution will help pay for a child’s transportation, room and board, food, camp activities, educational programs, and supplies.
- $800 = sponsor 2 LUM campers
- $400 = sponsor 1 LUM camper
- $200 = ½ LUM Camp sponsorship
- Any gift to support LUM Youth Programs
Our LUM Camp Director, Marlena Edmondson, is living proof that LUM Camp changes lives. Who knows who might be coming to LUM Camp this year – a future engineer, or mayor, or cancer researcher, or firefighter, or the next LUM Camp Director? Would you please invest in these campers’ lives – providing for their short-term fun and their long-term life skills by giving them an amazing gift: a week at LUM Camp?
With gratitude,
Wes Tillett, Executive Director
P.S. Because LUM asks parents to pay only $5 per camper, we need supporters like you to help cover the rest. Pleasecontribute online at LUMserve.org/donate, or scan the QR code, or place your gift in the enclosed envelope. Thank you!