Camping and Connections

Hey all,

I know it as been awhile since I have posted, sorry. But I have some updates for you about the progress of Living Hope Camping Foundation, Inc.

The mission of Living Hope is to provide summer camp opportunities to underprivileged children and teenagers throughout North Carolina. This is central to the mission of Living Hope and diverging from this mission will only increase overhead and reduce camping scholarships. However, one problem with summer camp is the lack of effective follow-up after camp. I maintain, strongly, that one week of camp can, and does, have a profound affects on many campers lives, but I would be lying if I said the system is perfect. With that in mind I now reveal a new, but consistent with the mission, part of what Living Hope will be, and is, all about:

Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, often says, "The local church is the hope of the world." I really believe this to be true. In fact, I believe the church can help solve many problems facing our world today, and has failed to reach its true life-changing potential. Living Hope will seek to change this by finding passionate volunteers from area churches, particular in our cities, and send our scholarship children to camp with these volunteers (properly background checked). The representatives will attend camp with the kids allowing them to build relationships over this one week. Living Hope will cover the costs of camp for the volunteer.

This one week of camp is only the beginning for both the volunteer and the campers. After camp this volunteer will continue to build relationships with the kids/teens and their families. The ultimate goal being to connect our inner city, unchurched, families to local churches through these volunteers. It is said, and just check this on linkedin.com, that you are only two or three connections away from someone famous, with influence, etc. By connecting these kids, and families with a faithful member of the local church, they will automatically be networked into opportunities for family, career, and spiritual growth. By simply sending kids to camp we will be able to see entire families come to Christ just like in the early church!

As of right now the priority for Living Hope is gaining 501c3 status. Please email livinghopefd@gmail.com if you desire to help Living Hope in anyway. With your help, we can create needed positive change economically, spiritually, and in many cases, provide better family values in our inner cities and beyond.

Check out our new website!

Living Hope Camping Foundation

About two years ago I had a vision for a Inner City Christian Camp servicing Central North Carolina. This camp was going to provide an outdoor summer camp to kids from underprivileged families. I love summer camp and have a passion for seeing ALL kids get this fantastic opportunity from a Christian perspective. I was planning this camp for awhile, even to the point of having others edit my business plan. It was really cruising along but I realized that, while I was serving the right people, my love for camp was getting in the way of God's plan. God would have me use my experience in business, my business degree, and my experience and passion for summer camp in a different arena. This arena is a summer camp scholarship organization, one by the name of: Living Hope Camping Foundation, Inc.

A scholarship foundation servicing NC Christian camps meets the needs of the people I want to serve much greater. Why? The budget expenses for a summer camp would only allow a 15-20% scholarship allocation for a camp that would not be able to provide camp, with excellence, for a significant number of years. The budget for Living Hope will allow for much greater scholarship numbers, numbers as high as 55-70%. In the early years Living Hope will likely allocate 55 - 60% of donations toward scholarships, or camperships, with this allocation increasing as fundraising requires less (approx. 20% of budget for a start-up non-profit) and as Living Hope develops an Emergency Fund. Basically Living Hope simply offers much less overhead costs, while supporting great Christian camps, already providing summer camp with excellence.

Whats Next?

The biggest and most significant next step is 5o1c3 status. With this status Living Hope will achieve tax-exemption, and donations will be tax deductible. Once this milestone is reached Living Hope will be able to really begin charging into the future! Their are several small steps that must be done, including, but not limited to:

Pray unceasingly

Open a bank account

Begin a relationship with a lawyer/accountant

Learn from other non-profit leaders

Build relationships with camp directors and ministry leaders

File for all necessary certificates, etc.

Marketing (such as developing a website and business cards)

Form a board (At least three people before filing for 5o1c3 status)

The 501c3 process does take awhile to complete, but the goal for Living Hope is to provide camperships to campers in the 2012 summer camping season. The summer of 2012 may not be a large summer, campership-wise, but it will be a fun summer, and a great milestone in the life of Living Hope Camping Foundation. If you desire to help Living Hope Camping Foundation, Inc. in any way please connect to me through our facebook page, using the link below, while the website is under construction.

'Like' Living Hope on Facebook!