GEMS Get Connected Camp Info

Dear GEMS Club Coordinators,

Warm Advent greetings to you. We hope your fall season in club has been a great one for you, your counselors, and all your girls. Registration forms and brochures for GEMS summer camp for early teen girls – Get Connected! Camp are enclosed in this mailing. This camp has been in operation since 1999 and since that time it has had a profound, eternal impact on thousands of girls’ lives. Whether you’ve sent girls to Get Connected! Camp in the past or not, please consider how your club/your church/parents might send girls this year. Lives truly transformed are what this camp is all about.  Other GEMS related events/activities are highlighted below as well. Please take the time to read the enclosed information and pass it along to counselors and girls. Both an emailed copy and hard copy are being provided this year.

               

1. Once again, we are excited to invite girls that have been in GEMS for a minimum of one year and will be entering grade 7, 8, or 9 in the fall of 2012 to attend Get Connected! Camp. This may be our most exciting camp experience yet as we utilize Cranhill Ranch, located in Rodney, MI for camp. Many new program options will be available including horseback riding, river tubing, and geo caching. These along with past experiences that girls love like: high ropes course, zipline, swimming and boating, dynamic chapel experiences, and opportunities to get alone with God will contribute to making this camp an unforgettable camp experience. The camp is scheduled for August 6-10, 2012. Registrations open January 3 and all registrations will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Most years we have a waiting list for camp due to the great reputation of Get Connected! Camp. So PLEASE, get your registrations in early.

The cost for five days, four nights, with lodging and meals provided, plus a Get Connected! t-shirt and souvenir DVD is $395.00 US. Registration forms + brochures are enclosed. Extra forms and brochures as well as copies of the 2010 camp video are available at no charge from the Service Center. The brochure and forms may also be downloaded from the website www.gemsgc.org .

And please, do make plans now to share this camp opportunity with your girls. Many clubs plan a special night for introducing camp. They show the 2010 Get Connected! Camp DVD and distribute registration forms.  Another easy way is to save the attachment to this email – the registration form and brochure – and forward them to every eligible girl.

Please remember, we’d love for every girl to have the opportunity to come to camp. If your club cannot make that possible, please do let girls and parents know about the camp. This makes attendance at GCC a decision they get to make. It is always so sad when we receive phone calls from upset parents after camp is over who lament that they were never told about GCC.

Camp counselor (TLC) applications, CIT applications, and volunteer applications for camp are also available at www.gemsgc.org, go to the Event drop down and Get Connected! Camp.

2.       We had a good response to the fall campaign of the Hand ‘n Hand, all-club fundraiser. Customers and clubs alike were very pleased with this year’s campaign. For those unable to participate in the fall campaign, remember you may run your own campaign anytime, January through March. If you need the info packet and materials sent to you again, please contact us at the Service Center 616 241 5616 x3032 or servicecenter@gemsgc.org and we will be happy to send them.

        3.    Don’t miss out on the great training opportunity coming next summer: the Annual Counselors’ Leadership Conference will be held July 12-15, 2012 at Wheaton College in Chicagoland. Registration opens January 4 with discounts for early bird registrations. Read more at www.gemsgc.org.

4.    Reminder: 2011 offerings are due December 31. Dues were due November 15. Unfortunately, we will be unable to ship supplies to clubs that have not met these financial obligations.

We hope this additional information is helpful. And we thank you in advance for sharing it with your counselors and girls. God is indeed at work in the GEMS ministry. And we thank you for ALL you are doing for Him through the ministry of GEMS Girls’ Clubs. May your Christmas be filled with great joy, much peace, and deep love.

Serving Him Together,

Jan Boone

Executive Director