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Contact Your Camper
Caring ... Honesty ... Respect ... Responsibility
We encourage parents to write letters to, fax, or email their children while they are at Camp Echo.
Contact with campers several times during a session helps campers feel connected to home, and can encourage children who are homesick to keep enjoying camp.
Counselors deliver letters, faxes, and emails to campers daily during Saska (rest hour).
Saska is also a time for Campers to write letters and bunk replies.
Outgoing mail is collected every day at breakfast and taken to the post office directly after the meal.
Parents may also send packages containing non-food items to their children.
Campers receive a notification during Saska that they have a package, and may pick up their package at the Trading Post during Fun Swim or Twilight Fun.
US Mail
Faxes
Email
Packages
Telephone Calls
Cell Phone Policy
Visiting Campers
First Day Post Cards
Parent Letters
National Emergencies, Weather Situations, or Health Crises
We encourage parents to write to their campers, but note that sending several letters every day is discouraged.
The mailing address for Camp Echo is listed in the Contact Us section of the website.
Parents may want to mail letters several days before camp begins to ensure timely arrival.
Please mark the camper's session on the outside of the envelope.
We suggest first time and younger campers be given self-addressed pre-stamped post cards or envelopes for writing home.
Because many children receive letters daily, campers receiving no mail are often disappointed.
Remember to keep all letters cheerful and encouraging. Talk about things other family members are doing and focus on the time later in the summer when everyone will be together again. For young or first-time campers, avoid topics that may trigger homesickness.
All envelopes and flats will be delivered to campers.
Thick or bulky envelopes will need to be opened in the presence of the cabin counselor to ensure that no gum or food items are inside.
Large bulky parcels will be treated as packages (see below.)
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We have a separate fax line, 231-924-7075, for sending a fax to a camper or staff member.
(The regular camp fax line, 231-924-0061, is reserved for business purposes and information that you need to transmit to the Health Officer, Camp Director, or Social Worker.)
When sending a fax, indicate the recipient's first and last names at the top of the fax and include the recipient's cabin name once you know it; please do not send a cover sheet.
All faxes received before noon (Eastern time) will be sorted and distributed to recipients during Saska that same afternoon.
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Email (Bunk Notes and Bunk Replies)
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Bunk1, a web-based company in New York, provides email service for Camp Echo parents and campers.
Details are including in the parent mailing packet (sent in March or April).
All Bunk Notes sent by midnight are printed the next morning and distributed during Saska.
If you have questions about, or difficulty accessing any Bunk1 features, please call Bunk1 at 800-216-9472 or use their web-based help.
Please don't call the YMCA or Camp Echo for help with Bunk1.
Note: Participation in Bunk1 will cost you at least $11.75 ($5 registration plus $5 worth of Bunk Note credits plus $1.60 handling fee) before you even send your first email.
If you don't want to see or purchase photographs from camp, or if you have concerns about the complexity or additional cost of the Bunk1 system, we urge you to just send faxes and letters.
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Parents may send packages containing non-food items only.
Because we live in a wilderness setting, many creatures share our home, and food in cabins attracts undesirable animals and insects.
We require that packages do not contain food, candy, gum, or snacks.
History has taught us that senders (usually people other than parents) will violate this rule.
Therefore, campers who receive a package will receive a "Package Notice" during Saska and they obtain their package by visiting the Trading Post ("TP").
The opening of their package is supervised by a staff member, and edible items are removed and discarded.
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Campers are not allowed to make or receive personal phone calls during their stay except in the case of a family crisis, emergency, or when deemed necessary by the Camp Director.
Parents can call camp at any time and speak with the Head Counselor or Social Worker, who will check on their child as soon as possible.
The Head Counselor or Social Worker will help determine if it's appropriate for a child to talk to his or her parent, and a return call will be scheduled.
Parents may also call the Health Officer with any health concerns.
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Program participants may not bring cell phones to camp.
When children come to camp they - and you - are making a leap of faith, transferring their primary care from you to us.
This is one of the growth-producing, yet challenging aspects of camp.
As children learn to trust other caring adults, they grow, and learn, little by little, to solve some of their own challenges.
We believe this emerging independence is one of the greatest benefits of camp.
It is one important way your children learn to become resilient.
Contacting you by phone essentially means they have not made this transition.
It prevents us from getting to problems that may arise and addressing them quickly.
We will call you if your children experience a challenge in their adjustment to camp!
You can help by talking with your child before they leave for camp and explaining that there is always someone available to help them solve a problem - their cabin counselor,
the Head Counselor, or any staff member they trust.
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Camp visits are allowed during breaks between sessions (Layover) only.
We do not allow visits during the camp sessions.
Experience has shown that visits disrupt the camp routine, detract from the counselors' ability to effectively manage their cabin groups,
and increase the level of potential homesickness for the child being visited and/or his or her peers.
Parents are welcome to view the facility before the first session of camp starts -- in May or early June -- or while dropping of their camper at the start of the session.
Please call camp a few days before to notify the Camp Director if you want to visit camp in May or early June.
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A few days after the start of the session parents will receive a post card from their child indicating the name of his or her cabin,
swim color, and a short message about the first day of camp.
The Program Manager and the Social Worker will check these post cards for early signs of homesickness or other problems.
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After a camp session ends, parents of children entering ninth grade and under will receive a letter from their child's counselor.
This letter will include information about the counselors, cabin group activities, and specific information about the camper's time at Echo.
These letters provide valuable insight into each camper's experience and as well as provide suggestions for new challenges and activities that camper can participate in next summer.
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National Emergencies, Weather Situations, or Health Crises
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The Camp Director monitors the national news and talks to staff at the McGaw YMCA regularly.
If there were an identified emergency situation, campers and staff would be gathered and informed.
Phone lines to camp would be kept open and all available McGaw YMCA staff would assist in checking on the safety of family members and relaying messages to and from camp.
The camp website would be used to post information, and should be viewed before parents call Camp Echo or the McGaw YMCA.
Camp Echo has a backup generator that maintains electric power during any power failure in the Fremont area.
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