How are my Membership dues spent?

The GCCAA has been actively supporting camp since 2009, but during the past 3 years we have really tried to step up our game in terms of Alumni involvement and utilization of membership fees/donations to support camp’s mission.

Although an individual membership is only $47 per year, you can see from the pie chart below that when we put all our time/energy/support together, we can achieve great things! 

Your memberships have made the following impact on camp: 

• Camp Scholarship: We believe that every child should have the opportunity to attend GCC, but we acknowledge that not all have the means to do so. Starting in 2023, we have created a Scholarship fund that will be awarded to one family per summer and will allow their child to attend a session of camp at no expense to the family. In addition to the free session, they will receive a camp t-shirt and a $20 Camp Store account. This Scholarship fund is completely funded by memberships and is a core part of the GCCAA’s mission.
  
  

• COVID Care Package: The staff of 2020 wanted a way to connect with the campers who were missing out on camp that summer. They got together and packaged camp care packages filled with handicraft kits, s’mores supplies, and other camp memorabilia and delivered them to all the campers across the state! Your membership dues paid for 100% of this initiative and helped camp stay connected to its families.
  
  

• 75th Anniversary Celebration: The GCCAA helped camp host a large-scale celebration of GCC’s 75th year of existence, bringing in thousands of dollars in donations and providing the camp community a chance to reconnect at the place we all love. The event was made possible through membership dues and all of the volunteer hours that many of our members gave to help run the event. You can view pictures of the 75th here.
  
  

• Camp Improvement Projects: Membership dues have helped us collaborate with camp on significant improvement projects, including the Archery shed renovation, the Firebowl restoration, and the Ropes Course Islands rebuild.
  
  

• Chapel Path: The GCCAA oversaw the redesign of the Chapel Path, unveiling a beautiful path of custom pavers engraved with the names and memories of GCC Alumni and friends. Many of our members purchased a paver to cement themselves in camp history and GCCAA membership dues helped us make this project a reality. You can see pictures of the completed path and purchase your very own paver here.
  
  

• Spring Volunteer Weekend: Each Spring, the GCCAA hosts a Volunteer weekend at camp that brings together our members for a weekend of Fellowship and Stewardship. Membership dues help provide food for our volunteers as well as the supplies used in camp improvement projects. In Spring of 2023, our volunteers installed sun sails at departments to help protect campers from the heat and also conducted minor renovations to the Haunted House.
  
  

• Regional Meet-Ups: Fellowship is part of the GCCAA’s mission and we have started hosting regional meet-ups as an opportunity for Alumni to get together in their own backyard. Most recently, Alumni met up at the Tampa Dave & Buster’s for a night of appetizers and games! Interested in hosting a meet-up in your community? Let us know at gccalum@gmail.com 
  
  

• Penny Wars: On opening day of each session of camp, the GCCAA hosts a Penny Wars event that raises money for both GCC and the Alumni Association. In 2022, we used our half of the donations to purchase new sports equipment for camp.
  
  

• Fun Run 5K: At the 70th Anniversary, the GCCAA hosted a 5K through camp property, with runners winding their way through the camp trails and passing by all of their favorite camp locations. 
  
  

• Administrative Costs: Memberships help us support the administration costs of running the GCCAA, mainly costs associated with upkeep of this website. 

All of these different projects are tied to our mission to support GCC through Stewardship, Fellowship, and Scholarship.