聽 聽 聽 聽 聽The Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party (KLKP), a music camp for all ages and abilities in Moose Mountain Provincial Park, would like to extend heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to their fundraising campaign.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The campaign focused on making it easier for local children to attend music camp, with funds being raised to hire camp counsellors and create additional bursaries.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n the past, around 80% of our attendees came from a 100 km radius of the camp,鈥� said KLKP founder Michele Amy, 鈥渂ut the past two years that percentage was reversed, with only about 25% of our participants coming from local communities.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e are a high profile camp in Canada, and participants attend from as far as New Brunswick, The Northwest Territories, British Columbia, The Cayman Islands, and all over the continental United States.聽 But recently, our local population has noticeably reduced.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Amy believes low local attendance numbers are connected to the recent economic downturn, with more families having to cut out 鈥渆xtra鈥� expenses:
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ur instructors are world-renowned, and when the camp was started, the whole point was to give local musicians access to this quality of instruction. Our goal was to grow the music right here at home.聽 But if local people can鈥檛 afford to access it, then we have lost our way. Sothis year, we have worked hard to raise funds to decrease the financial burden on families wanting to send their children to camp.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 KLKP鈥檚 first new initiative geared towards local families was to hire counsellors for children age 9 to 15. In the past, campers under 16 had to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, but now parents can enroll their child in music camp without having to take time off work themselves.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e recognized that many children were missing out on the high quality instruction offered at KLKP聽 because their parents couldn鈥檛 afford to take five days of vacation time,鈥� said Amy, 鈥渂y hiring counsellors to ensure kids are happy and healthy at camp,we hope to return to our goal of growing the Local music scene.聽 Amy says 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 nice that folks from Calgary and Vancouver and Winnipeg get to access our programming, but the real goal is for local players to receive the benefit of our efforts. So we are hoping that this will help return to that goal.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The fundraising efforts kicked off with a benefit concert in Carlyle this past May. Local artists headlined the event, and area businesses donated silent auctions items for an evening that raised over $800. With the generous support of private donors from the 麻豆视频east, and a creative Facebook fundraising campaign, the camp reached its fundraising goal and was able to launch the new program.
鈥淲e are so grateful to live in an area that is so supportive of the arts,鈥� said Amy, 鈥渙ur camp truly would not be possible without the help of our local community.People have mailed in cheques, the grad class from Stoughton donated a portion of their excess fundraising to the cause 鈥� the generosity has been significant!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 KLKP also raised enough funds to extend its bursary program, which reduces the cost of camp for local attendees. Since the camp encourages families to attend together, Amy wanted to make the camp more accessible for the 麻豆视频east community:
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hile our camp offers excellent value for the world-class instruction we provide, we realize that every family has a different economic reality.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ur bursaries make camp more feasible for the families who could most benefit from a musical experience.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Offering instruction in fiddle, guitar, piano, voice, ukulele, mandolin, cello, and banjo, this year campers can choose to attend the Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party either August 5-9, or August 12-16. The camp is held at the Kenosee Boys and Girls Camp in Moose Mountain Provincial Park.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This year KLKP has attracted in-demand instructors from eight different provinces, the United States, and Scotland.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Last minute registrations are still welcome, with bursaries still available.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To find out more about KLKP or to register for camp, visit kenoseekitchenparty.ca, or email Michele at [email protected]
