Group Mission Trips Resources

Camp season is quickly approaching, and we’re hard at work preparing to make summer 2022 as fun, safe, and as normal as possible. These are the precautions that we put in place in 2021 and had great success. It’s too early to tell what 2022 will hold, but we are prepared to implement the following protocols, if necessary. We will know more in the spring of 2022.

The safety of the students, adults, staff, and residents of the communities we serve is of critical importance. We are in contact with our partners in each community and working to ensure we provide the safest environment and follow all local guidelines when it comes time for camp this summer. Here are precautions you can expect regarding safety, arrival, mealtimes, sleeping arrangements, large-group gatherings, work sites, and more that will help us safely conduct our mission trips. Please arrive healthy, and plan to stay that way

General Safety

• Conducting arrival day and daily health screening of each person to include taking each person’s temperature, and completing the symptoms checklist, and maintaining those records within your youth group.
• If any participant exhibits symptoms determined to be potentially identified with COVID-19, they may be dismissed along with their crew, or sleeping room, or cohort group, or youth group.*
• Following local guidelines, everyone may be required to wear masks when in all public or shared places. For example, at work sites, at the lodging facility, in enclosed areas, during gatherings, and interactions with other groups.
• Encourage each other to maintain social distancing, wash hands frequently, and remain respectful of others’ needs to be safe in their individual ways.
• Our staff may recruit extra facility volunteers to assist with increased sanitization and cleaning tasks.

*No refunds will be provided in this case.

Arrival

• Youth leaders are responsible for arriving with healthy participants. We highly recommend and strongly request documented proof of a negative COVID test within 72 hours of arriving, OR proof of vaccination, OR have a completed health screening for each participant before leaving home.
• Keeping youth groups together (including on crews) to help keep people safe. We understand mixing groups is a large part of the relational experience at camp. If this is the safest option, we plan for this to be a temporary change for this year only.
• We will ensure that the camp environment has been cleaned and disinfected and ready for you.

Sleeping arrangements

• We are speaking with location partners about expanding the number of sleeping rooms to provide for social distancing in sleeping areas.

Mealtimes

• Expanded mealtimes and shifts for separate groups and established consistent eating areas to provide better social distancing practices during mealtimes.
• We are analyzing our food preparation procedures at Week of Hope and making necessary changes to ensure food safety since youth groups usually help prepare meals for each other.

Large group gatherings

• Multiple evening program times and shifts. Potentially conducting the program outside where appropriate and weather permitting to provide better social distancing.
• Unfortunately, residents will not attend our Friday evening programs at Workcamps to decrease exposure of anyone who may be at higher risk including our elderly residents.

Work sites

• Limiting the amount of interaction with people at all work and project sites, including during devotions, for the safety of people at higher risk, especially our elderly residents.