Sep 24, 2020
September 24, 2020 After 15 years Camp Colley Foundation is now proudly the program operator of Camp Colley! For those who may not know our organization’s history, let us briefly explain … Since its inception in 2005, the nonprofit Camp Colley Foundation has focused on funding camper scholarships and investing in facilities at Camp Colley, a City of Phoenix-owned camp for underserved youths nestled in the beautiful Coconino National Forest north of Payson. In fall 2019 the City awarded the Foundation a contract to operate camp for one season before beginning the search for a long-term operator. With this new responsibility, our Foundation designed and prepared to implement a program plan that would allow more Phoenix kids to learn and grow at Camp Colley during an all-new, expanded 5-day 4-night wilderness experience. Staff were hired and their week-long training was organized, activity plans were written, transportation was secured, and then… COVID-19 struck. We were forced to shelve our plans and pivot to virtual environmental education programming as an alternative to reach kids while keeping them safe from the virus. The extensive work our Foundation completed to prepare the 2020 season-that-was-not-to-be helped clarify our ability to operate Camp Colley. We gathered our plans, budgets and forecasts and synthesized this information into a proposal submitted to the City of Phoenix in August to become Camp Colley’s long-term operator. And with great excitement and gratitude, Camp Colley Foundation has been selected to operate camp for a minimum of five years beginning in spring 2021. Strengthening our partnership with the City of Phoenix to fully fund and operate Camp Colley is a natural...
