the green spot blog

  I've lost count how many times I've started this email, deleted the text, and started over again. Words just don't seem to carry enough weight to clearly convey my thankfulness this afternoon. Regardless of the shortfall, I am going to try. On November 21st we ran our very first Livestream Telethon. We had set our goal for this fundraiser at $80,000. To be honest, when we set the goal for this fundraiser, I thought it was going to be tough to meet. Days before the Livestream, we were at $10,250 and I simply didn't know how we were ever going to hit our goal. I picked up the mail and there were enough donations to get us nearly halfway to our goal AND a $20,000 donation to Reaching Higher. WHAT?! It was at this point that I really felt like the Isrealites in the Old Testament and how quickly they forgot about God's faithfulness. It is so easy for us to hear the world's message about how bad things are and how worse they're going to get and forget that we se...

Ten years ago, an idea was born... Let's invite people to raise some money and play some hockey.  A pretty novel and pretty brilliant idea our Executive Director and (one of the) biggest Oilers fan I've ever met, Kerry Precht, can be thanked for. The tournament has brought players back year after year - many saying that it is what they scheduled their January around. It has been a day that many people come together each year to make happen. We had a humble beginning in 2010. Six teams and one ice rink. Our Site Manager, Dave Reimier had built a pull "zambonie" to flood the ice which we still use today (with some modifications). We raised $10,128 that first year. Our first Pond Hockey Rink in 2010 Our second, third, and fourth years showed a lot of growth. Six teams grew to eight which grew to ten. Need for a second rink was evident as was a tightening of the rules...who knew hockey players could be so competitive?!...Okay, okay - well...maybe we knew that al...

There's a new thing happening this spring at Camp Evergreen. For the first time ever - we are doing an obstacle race called the Tough Camper Run . This race will be the first of its kind here at Evergreen and will raise money for our camp programs. The race is being designed so that families, individuals, and youth groups can race together in a fun new way. Teams are encouraged to dress up in a theme (like bumblebees, unicorns, or something even crazier) and race to see lives transformed! Each racer is encouraged to raise $200 each in pledges for the race. That can seem like a lot - but kids are really good at raising money...especially when they dress up. Who can say no to a 5 year old dressed as a bumblebee? Our goal for this fundraiser is $25,000. Prizes will be given for Top Fundraiser in each category, Best Dressed, and more! Here's the skinny about the race: 1km - 3km - 5km Distance Options with an obstacle area containing 8-9 obstacles in each distance. Obsta...

In the last week I have been struck by something I want to call wild blessings of simple gifts. I'm calling them wild because they've just really encouraged me in what we do here at camp and in all honesty...it sounded good in my head. :) PC: Tammy Hanratty I'm going to tell about the two examples of these blessings and how regular people have decided to bless camp out of their own means. The first one was from a parent who called in to pay for their child's camp last week. As I wrapped up the details to do the payment - the parent stopped me and said that it wasn't just her child's camp that they wanted to submit payment for. The parent took a moment to explain that for the last couple of years they have had to apply for our Campership Aid Program so that their daughter could come to camp. They talked about how it was a Godsend that they were able to still send their child to camp even though the finances weren't available at the time. The parent s...

Wow! Pond Hockey was amazing! Our Ninth year was one for the record books, for sure. The weather was about as perfect as one could ask for and we had twelve teams sign up for an incredible day of hockey, raising funds for camp programs, and a great time with family.  It really is magical when the sun breaks over the trees in the morning. Teams came from all over Alberta to play: Edmonton, Gem, Linden, and Calgary. It really was a team effort! We raised over $32,000 for camp! How amazing is that?! Someone from Gem even pledged to donate $100/goal - we're pretty happy that Gem scored a lot of goals! Year after year, it's just amazing to see all of the support. Spectators, players, staff, and volunteers come together to make Pond Hockey one of the most amazing one day events that we hold here at Evergreen. In nine years, would you believe that we've raised $204,640 for camp? Yes - you really should read that again... $204,640.00 for ...

I would never imagine myself complaining about the warm December weather. Yet here I am - concerned that it just hasn't been cold enough. Who would have ever thought?! A year ago last week - it was between -20 and -30...This year? Battling +10! There has been some pretty awesome results of that nice weather. The Fallen Timber Creek that flows through our land is amazing. This is a pretty rare occurrence. Typically the creek freezes bumpy and it's pretty difficult to get it smooth unless we get some long periods of warm weather...which we've had. Our Dish(rack)tion has been diligently clearing snow on the creek. And you know what? All that nice weather caused the creek to flow over top and smooth out the bumps. Once it froze again - it was magic. I often get asked if we're worried about ice and Pond Hockey and you know what, we're happy. With this being our ninth tournament, we have seen extremely cold weather, extremely warm weather and just about everythin...

If you were anywhere close to our two hockey rinks this last Saturday - you would have heard this floating through the trees. Between our play-by-play announcer, David Song and our Colour Commentator, Bob Kroeker - the atmosphere at our Pond Hockey Fundraiser is one of a kind. This was our eighth annual Pond Hockey Tournament and Fundraiser. Each year we're humbled by the generosity of the teams and people who are connected with Evergreen. We love putting on an event that so aptly fits why we do what we do. Coming together to do something important and having a blast while doing it. Really, it's what camp is all about. Father and Son having a bit of fun! Teams fundraised just over $24,000 and our Silent Auction brought in nearly $5000. Bringing us to a total just under $30,000. Again, we're so thankful and humbled by the generosity of our players, friends, and family of Evergreen. We were joined by teams from Edmonton, Linden,...