Camp Update – May 8

Greetings in Christ,

A big update this week is that, assuming no changes over the next week by order of the Governor, is that our Family Campground will open on Friday, May 15. We’re thankful to the so many that have been asking to come out and enjoy our beautiful outdoors. Though we are opening, we do have a few prerequisites and update policies going into effect because of the pandemic:

• All campsites must be reserved in advance. We’ll begin taking reservations on Monday, May 11. Please call Dylan at 319-848-4187 to reserve your spot today.
• Only campers with functioning, self-contained bathrooms are allowed. The restrooms/showers will be closed.
• If you or any member of your camping group or household have experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 14 days, please stay home

You can view all of the updated campground policies here.

With regards to summer camp, we have no direction yet. Today was the earliest possible decision date for our June camps but we still need much more information. I have had phone conversations with the Johnson County Health Department and the Iowa Department of Public Health this week. I also have provided the Iowa Department of Public Health with written questions that would give guidance as far as how to proceed with our summer camp programs. We do have some good guidance on operating our kitchen and dining, and we will be putting together a plan for our county health department to review and provide feedback on.

Though it’s out of our hands, there have been some unfortunate setbacks to do summer camp guidance that were to be provided through the CDC, and it now appears they will release none. We now turn to the state’s directives on these matters, of which there are essentially none specific to summer camp, though there are many related guidances, none of which provide much promise. So for now, we just need to wait a bit more and see what comes out soon.

We have a new webpage on our response to the COVID-19 pandemic on our website. It can be found at https://campiodiseca.org/camp-and-covid-19/ . You can see each update that we’ve put out since March 20 and new information and resources will be posted as they become available.

Thank you very much for checking in and we’ll talk again next week!