Dear Camp Chanco 2020 families,
We write today to thank you for your continued support as we adapt to an ever-changing environment. Our Chanco community, including our bishop, camp and retreat families, board, staff and donors have demonstrated unwavering loyalty and commitment to our mission. For this, we are enormously grateful. We recognize that delivering our mission today is more challenging than ever before.
After much study, discussion, prayer and with heavy hearts, the Chanco Board of Directors has decided to suspend Camp Chanco’s normal camp operations for the 2020 season. During this pandemic, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has encouraged us to ask ourselves, “What would Love do?” At the heart of this decision is love. We care too deeply for our campers, our staff, their families and for Camp Chanco’s future to risk opening for normal camp operations this summer.
Following the way of love often requires making difficult decisions, and this one was heartbreaking. This decision has been informed by information from the CDC, the governor’s office, the Diocesan Office, the Episcopal Camp and Conference Centers Association, the American Camp Association and our survey to our camp families. We have studied our governor’s plan for safe reopening and the social distancing restrictions, group size limits, and other regulations that will be implemented in the first phases. These safety measures simply challenge the parts of our culture that are essential to the quality Camp Chanco experience. We are grateful to be known and honored as Virginia Living’s “Best Summer Camp” for the last nine years.
While making the decision now is difficult, we want to support our Chanco families to help them make their plans accordingly. The good news is the Camp Chanco staff and our board are now planning ways for individuals and families to “Come Home to Chanco” in-person and right from their own homes! Please look for updates in our Chanco Chatter eNewsletter, our website, and our social media platforms by early June.
