Our Response to COVID-19
Due to the continuing impact of COVID-19 on our global community, we have decided to not have the 2020 Camp Rising Sun season. There are several factors of uncertainty contributing to making the preparation and implementation of our in-person program incredibly difficult. First and foremost is the safety of our campers and staff. The global medical community is uncertain when this pandemic will clear and allow for safe international activities such as ours. In our current understanding of this health crisis, we cannot plan around a specific date to resume normalcy, nor international travel.
Even if in a few months the virus is mostly contained, we have been advised to be cautious for secondary outbreaks. We would not be equipped to safely manage such an outbreak at Camp and we would not want to potentially put anyone in harm.
Another factor is around proper staffing. Due to the international nature of our program, a significant part of our team travels from outside of the United States and requires a J-1 Visa. At the moment, the J-1 Visa program has been temporarily suspended through May 1. We do not have a clear sense if it will be reactivated in time for the visas of our staff to be processed.
Finally, schools in many countries are currently closed. It is unclear how this will impact the school calendar and our New York area host families’ ability to welcome campers.
At a time like this, it is natural to have a mix of emotions. I am sad at the missed opportunity to welcome the 2020 campers as we had envisioned. At the same time, I am filled with anticipation to see how our community will rise to the current challenge. I have a tremendous amount of faith and confidence in our staff and community to be able to carry out our mission, even in these uncertain times. Our staff and volunteers are working towards launching a series of virtual initiatives to engage with the selected 2020 cohort, as well as our alumni, which we will be announcing soon.
Sincerely,
Helene Mattera
Executive Director