Hello returning Monkey Business families and those considering coming to camp,
Child care is an expensive item in a family budget. The Bay continues to be one of the top places on the planet, in terms of cost of living, as it is an incredible place to live. I know that for many of us in the Bay, we are looking to budget for all of the many expenses. When you compare our prices against other camp programs, ours are not on the lowest end, so why spend more?
Here are the top 4 items that came to me when thinking about this in terms of what you are investing in for your family, child, and community:
Experience: One thing that many parents comment on is how our experience shows. We have been doing this for 25 years, and for three of those during a pandemic (we never closed down), served thousands of families, and have learned a lot about how to create a magical place for kids, where they are also very well cared for, emotionally and physically.
Programming Crafted with Care and Mindfulness: We want your child to have experiences that nourish them for a lifetime and that are also supporting our planet in terms of resource use, so it can last into next 7 generations and onward. This takes thought and care!
Being a Part of a Community Rooted in Respect and Fun: We are at the point where often 80% of our staff were former youth leaders and campers. In this time and age, having that kind of connection, over time is so important, to sustain in challenging times. It can be a crazy world out there and in our own beings! We work toward building an inclusive, fun loving community in our words and deeds.
Supporting a Locally Started, Women Owned Business Whose Employees Live in the Area and that Gives Back: This past year, our year round staff, people like Freesia, Samantha, Ben and Brad, received a benefits package, including vacation, sick and health benefits, and higher salaries! I wanted to share in the success of Monkey Business Camp, for their commitment to working each camp. We’re a certified green business, since 2009. Small businesses like ours, started and still run locally are nourished by your support, and it keeps our area healthy, with money staying within the community. Supporting feminine leadership now to improve our future has been a much needed theme of these times. I have lived in many ways the American dream of being first generation to go to college and open my own business. Growing up working class, this was not necessarily the story I could have had, so I am very grateful, and my story inspires me daily to work toward a world where we encourage opportunity for all. We give back to groups working toward restoration-that are planting trees and saving open spaces and rainforests around the world and locally.
Now those are great things to invest in!
I cherish and am nourished by your being a part of this camp. Thank you for spending some time with me and hope to see you soon.
Toward the fun!
Heather Mitchell
Monkey Business Camp
Co-Founding Director
