Help Keep Camp Zanika Open 💚

This is an update we never hoped we would have to write.

After holding onto hope that conditions would improve enough for us to operate our final week of camp, we made the heartbreaking decision to cancel Session 8 because of worsening wildfire smoke, extremely poor air quality, and changing evacuation zones near camp.

With the loss of Sessions 6, 7, and 8, along with the early closure of Session 5, Camp Zanika Lache is now facing more than $199,000 in lost summer revenue.

For a small nonprofit organization like ours, this is an enormous loss.

Summer camp revenue doesn't just pay for the weeks that campers are at Zanika. The money we earn during the summer helps carry Camp Fire North Central Washington and Camp Zanika Lache from the end of one summer until the beginning of the next.

It helps us pay for:

Our small year-round office team of one full-time employees, along with part-time staff
Camp and organizational insurance
Our office lease
Power, sewer, utilities, and other operating expenses
Charter fees to Camp Fire National
Camp maintenance and facility expenses
Program expenses and preparations for the next summer
The many everyday costs required to keep a nonprofit organization and a camp operating year-round

These bills don't stop because camp had to close due to smoke and air quality

We were already fundraising after the cancellation of Sessions 6 and 7. Now, with Session 8 cancelled as well, the financial impact has become much more serious.

For 19 years, I have had the privilege of being part of Camp Zanika, and I have never experienced a summer like this. We did not cancel these sessions because we wanted to. We cancelled because the safety of our campers and staff had to come first. Our AQI was 1573 at one point and most of the time the AQI was in the unhealthy to very unhealthy.

Now we need help making sure this wildfire season doesn't determine the future of Camp Zanika. For generations, Camp Zanika Lache has been a place where children come to experience the outdoors, build confidence, make lifelong friendships, and simply get to be kids.

This summer, something happened that we could not have anticipated.

End of Update

Due to heavy wildfire smoke from fires burning across Washington State and unsafe air quality at camp, we made the heartbreaking decision to close Session 6 early and cancel Session 7.

In 19 years at Camp Zanika, we have never experienced wildfire smoke affecting our summer camp program to this extent.

Closing camp was not a decision we made lightly. Our campers were excited to be here. Our seasonal staff had been hired and trained. Food and program supplies had been purchased. Activities were planned. Everything was ready for another incredible week at Camp Zanika.

But when the smoke settled into the Lake Wenatchee area and the air quality became unsafe, the health and safety of our campers and staff had to come first.

Now we need our community's help.

The Financial Impact Is Significant

Even when camp has to close, many of our expenses don't disappear.

We still have staff to pay, food and supplies that were already purchased, insurance, utilities, facility expenses, and other costs associated with preparing for and operating our summer program.

At the same time, we want to do everything we can to take care of the families whose children lost their opportunity to attend camp.

We need $31,875 to meet payroll.

We need $126,125 to take care of our affected camp families while keeping Camp Zanika financially strong enough to open its doors again.

For a small nonprofit organization like Camp Fire North Central Washington, losing two camp sessions creates an enormous financial impact.

We Need Your Help

We aren't asking our community simply to help us recover from a difficult summer.

We are asking you to help make sure Camp Zanika has a future.

If you are a former camper, parent, staff member, alumni, community member, local business, service club, or someone who believes children deserve places like Camp Zanika, please help us now.

Every gift matters.

$25 helps us purchase supplies.

$50 helps provide meals.

$100 helps support our staff and programs.

$500 helps us recover from the loss of two camp sessions.

$1,000 or more can make an immediate difference in keeping Camp Zanika financially strong.

And if you or your business is able to make a larger gift, we need you now more than ever.

Camp Zanika Is Worth Saving

Camp is more than cabins, campfires, kayaks, and trails.

It's a camper spending their first night away from home.

It's catching a first fish.

It's learning to paddle a kayak.

It's singing around the campfire.

It's making a best friend.

It's a child discovering, “I can do this.”

Camp Zanika has been here for generations of children. We want it to be here for generations more.

We made the difficult decision to protect our campers when the air was no longer safe.

Now we're asking our community to help protect Camp Zanika.

Please donate what you can and share this fundraiser with your friends, family, coworkers, former campers, and anyone who believes in the importance of camp.

Help us recover. Help us pay our staff. Help us take care of our families. And most importantly, help us make sure the gates of Camp Zanika open again next summer. 💚

Camp Fire North Central Washington is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations may be tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Help Save Camp Zanika Youth Coed Summer Camp