WE NEED YOUR HELP

ENSURE THAT YMCA CAMP SLOPER CAN CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

With some challenges associated with our aging pond and the dramatic increase in day camp enrollment in recent years, YMCA Camp Sloper has some much needed capital improvements to complete to ensure we continue to deliver high quality programs. These improvements include: dredging Sloper Pond, constructing new bathrooms and changing rooms, building a new Splash Pad, adding a new pavilion for rainy day space and other infrastructure improvements. In addition to the $3-million dollars awarded to our YMCA from the State of CT for the Save Sloper Pond project, we have $1.5 million dollars in funding needs to make all these projects a reality. Our YMCA has committed to funding $750,000 of the $1.5 million in projects, leaving another $750,000 to fundraise for. We would greatly appreciate your support to help us meet our goal and complete these projects by the end of 2024.

ABOUT YMCA CAMP SLOPER

The YMCA Camp Sloper Outdoor Center is a program center of the Southington-Cheshire Community YMCAs utilized by members, guests, families, companies, churches, civic organizations, schools, and of course campers. Our Day Camp stands proud as our flagship program and serves approximately 4,600 plus campers each summer, providing them with the opportunity to build self-confidence, develop leadership skills, learn values, be active, make new friends and learn an appreciation for nature and the great outdoors. In addition, YMCA Camp Sloper reaches over 10,000 youth, teens and adults through environmental education, team building, facility rentals and special events each year.

OUR CHALLENGES

CHALLENGE #1 - Save Sloper Pond: Like all living things, ponds have a lifecycle and over the next 50+ years Sloper Pond will slowly go from pond to swamp to meadow if proper preventative measures are not taken. The pond is the centerpiece of the property and we cannot let this happen.

• YMCA RESPONSE: Through a well engineered plan, the YMCA will remove 125k cubic yards of silt and sediment from the bottom of the pond and install preventative measures for future maintenance.
• COMMUNITY IMPACT: With these improvements to Sloper Pond, we can be assured this body of water will be here for generations to come to enjoy day camp, swimming, boating, fishing, environmental programs and so much more.
• PROJECT COST: $3.5 million dollars. Our YMCA has received $3 million dollars in funds from the State of Connecticut, leaving $500k in additional funds needed for this project.

CHALLENGE #2-New Bathrooms & Changing Rooms: We have a large need to increase our current bathroom facilities to handle our current and future growth. Our camp enrollment has increased dramatically with over 1,000 kids a day for camp. We are currently working with two bathrooms, one of which is on a 30-year old septic system.

• YMCA RESPONSE: We have plans to build a larger bathroom and changing room facility in the center of the camp, as well as two additional bathrooms off of the Camp Office. In addition, we will run sewer lines through the property to eliminate the old septic system.
• COMMUNITY IMPACT: These new improvements will be able to accommodate our current and future day camp growth and eliminate the risk of a septic system failure. This will allow us to run the quality day camp and outdoor center programming which modern day families are expecting.
• PROJECT COST: $600k is the estimated cost of the new bathrooms and changing rooms along with 850+ feet of sewer lines extended on to the property.

CHALLENGE #3-New Splash Pad and Pavilion: Our dramatic increase in day camp enrollment has led us to a need for more aquatic program areas and rainy day space to run the quality programs that our families have become accustomed to.

• YMCA RESPONSE: We plan to construct a 2,200 square-foot Splash Pad next to the new bathrooms and changing rooms and build at least one new pavilion for rainy day space. We also plan to open the splash pad on the weekends for members and the community.
• COMMUNITY IMPACT: Building a new Splash Pad aquatic activity area would greatly enhance our day camp offerings as well as provide another fun activity on the weekends for families in the community. A new pavilion would add another safe space for kids during inclement weather days.
• PROJECT COST: $400k is the estimated cost of the new Splash Pad as well as one new pavilion at YMCA Camp Sloper.