Archives

By Andy Thornton
Director of Retreat and Camping Ministry

With an innovative, new fundraiser, the simple act of cleaning out your closet can send a child to summer camp.

Andy Thornton, the director of the Baltimore Washington Conference’s Retreat and Camping Ministry, encourages every church to think about how they can use the Clean Closets for Campers project and, in simple and creative ways, contribute to the campership program. Camperships send children in need to summer camp at West River, near Annapolis, and Camp Manidokan near Harper’s Ferry.

The idea is simple. Local churches collect used clothing, bedding, shoes, purses and hats. Once there are about 75 to 100 bags of goods, Mission Partners pick them up and takes them to a facility that sorts the items. They are resold to thrift stores, made into reusable rags or sent abroad to companies that create jobs in the resale of affordable clothing. Fifty percent of the selling price is then returned directly to the church to be used for camperships.

Fallston UMC has already collected more than 250 bags of used clothing and goods to raise money for camperships.

“Our congregation got very excited about this project,” said the Rev. Karin Walker. “We even put up a sign on the street and community folk were dropping off bags of clothing to help. The Confirmation Class took the lead in gathering the clothes and storing them in the church.”

This is a relatively new program. Started in 2012 in the Western Pennsylvania Conference by a family dedicated to the camping program, they wanted to find a way to make summer camp more affordable. In 2013, more than $30,000 was raised for camperships in the Western Pennsylvania Conference through the Clean Closets program. 

To sign up, click on the link on the Retreat and Camping Ministries web site, www.bwccampsandretreats.org, and complete the simple form.

The RCM office will get you in contact with Mission Partners and then start collecting clothes.

For more detailed information, see the web site or contact the RCM office at , or call 800-922-6795.