NHCDA: WORKING WITH YOU AND FOR YOU!

Greetings from the New Hampshire Camp Directors Association,

The NH Camps board met on Wednesday night, using everyone's new favorite telecommunication tool (see screenshot below). It wasn’t all as dour as it looks but there are certainly some serious issues facing our industry. We met to chart a course for the coming weeks that will bring our community of camps together as well as help you in your preparations for the summer.

Here are the important upcoming dates – specific information regarding each can be found below.

• Tuesday, 3/31 at 9:00 am – Directors Drop-In *
• Wednesday, 4/1 at 2:00 pm – NH Camps Membership meeting
• Thursday, 4/2 at 7:00 pm – Directors Drop-In *
• Friday, 4/3 at 1:00 pm – Merchants Fleet Management meeting
• Wednesday, 4/22 at 1:00 pm – Healthcare Planning for Camp meeting
• Friday, 4/24 at 9:00 am – Department of Labor seminar

* Directors Drop-In sessions are scheduled twice-weekly and will recur throughout the spring every Tuesday morning and Thursday evening.

MEMBERSHIP MEETING – 4/1/2020

On Wednesday, April 1, we will convene a remote meeting of all licensed NH camps from 2:00 to 4:00 pm using Zoom. The link to join the meeting can be found below. Our agenda will be relatively straightforward:

• Deb Vanderbeek will provide an update on in-progress state legislation affecting camps.
• Sam Roberts from Camp America will join to discuss the status of the J-1 Visa program.
• Terri Peck from the NH Department of Health and Human Services will talk about this year's camp licensing program and, of course, the new challenges presented by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic gripping the world.

We expect many of you have questions, and an online meeting likely attended by well over 100 participants, as we've all learned over the past few weeks, is not an optimal environment for a dynamic conversation. In the interest of clarity and efficiency, we ask that you submit questions ahead of time using the form on the NH Camps website, so that our presenters can best address your concerns.

The meeting will be recorded and available to view at a later date on the NH Camps website.

Save this email so you can come back and click this link at the appropriate time to join the meeting. There's no need to register ahead of time!

Click here to submit a question to be addressed at the Membership Meeting

Thanks to Chalmers Insurance for sponsoring the spring Membership meeting!

DIRECTOR DROP-IN MEETINGS

NH Camps is excited to begin hosting twice-weekly informal gatherings of camp directors, using Zoom, beginning on Tuesday, March 31 at 9:00 am and Thursday, April 2 at 7:00 pm. These will repeat every week at the same times – Tuesdays at 9:00 am, Thursdays at 7:00 pm.

In a normal year, the opportunity to chat with colleagues can be valuable – this year's once-in-several-lifetimes challenges make sharing information and ideas all the more critical. NH Camps board members will be in attendance, and you are invited to join at your convenience to listen, ask questions, share thoughts, and both seek and provide support. There will be no formal agenda – this is simply a forum to talk openly about whatever is front-of-mind on any given day.

We'll send out regular reminders, and expect these drop-in meetings to carry on throughout the spring, until we can start seeing one another in person again!

Save this email so you can come back and click these links at the appropriate time to join the meetings. There's no need to register ahead of time!

DO YOU LEASE VANS FROM MERCHANTS FLEET?

Several of you have spoken with various NH Camps board members about conflicting and confusing information regarding van lease commitments given the uncertainty of the summer ahead. We have spoken with some of the Merchants leadership in an effort to determine what options are available for late changes, additions, or cancellations in the weeks and months ahead. Marcus Luce, Director of Operations, Mobility at Merchants has agreed to join a Zoom meeting with us on Friday, April 3 at 1:00 pm. This is open to any camps who have questions or concerns regarding their van lease agreements.

Save this email so you can come back and click this link at the appropriate time to join the meeting. There's no need to register ahead of time!

HEALTHCARE PLANNING FOR CAMP – 4/22/2020

We are preparing to host an online meeting with Tracey Gaslin from the Association of Camp Nursing for any member camps who want advice and guidance in preparing for a healthy, safe summer this year in the face of COVID-19 as well as all of the usual concerns. Tentatively, we are targeting Wednesday, April 22 at 1:00 pm for this meeting – more information will be forthcoming.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SEMINAR – 4/24/2020

With appreciation to Michele Small and Steve McKinney, we've rescheduled this valuable (and free for members!) opportunity to speak with representatives from both the NH and US Department of Labor for Friday, April 24 at 9:00 am, once again using Zoom to gather remotely. We'd ask that, for this workshop, that you register ahead of time using the form on the NH Camps website, and submit questions that you'd like to see addressed along with your registration. You can register up to five people from your organization. We'll send a link to join the Zoom meeting to registered attendees a few days beforehand.

This meeting will not be recorded, so we encourage you to set aside the date now and plan on attending!

If you registered yourself and/or others from your organization for the previously scheduled in-person DOL seminar, please re-register using the link below. Remember – there's no cost for members to attend this seminar!

Thanks to Payroll Management for sponsoring the DOL Seminar!

Please note that the dates of times of these meetings are all subject to change depending on potential unforeseen circumstances. We will post updates on the NH Camps website, where you can also find links to enter the meetings should you misplace this email.

As always, you can use the contact form on the NH Camps website if you have questions or want to connect with any of the members of our board of directors. We're here for you.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay hopeful!

Links to useful resources at this time American Camp Association https://www.acacamps.org/resource-library/coronavirus-information-camps Center for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html NH Department of Health and Human Services https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/cdcs/2019-ncov.htm (information specific to NH) Association of Camp Nurses https://www.campnurse.org/education-and-resources/resources/ (a coronavirus FAQ and Practice Guidelines on Communicable Disease Management in the Camp Setting and Communicable Disease Control in the Camp Setting)