Emmaus Auction Raises $1,000+ for Camp Scholarships

Bidding on artwork, T-shirts, jewelry, bracelets, and other items, the youth and staff at this year’s senior high camp at Camp Emmaus in Mount Morris, Ill., raised more than $1,000 for camper scholarships.

An auction has become an annual tradition at the camp, starting about seven years ago. Proceeds each year go to aid a different charitable cause. Past beneficiaries have included a Honduras workcamp led by Camp Emmaus manager Bill Hare, a camper undergoing cancer treatments, and the Church of the Brethren Global Food Crisis Fund. Campers and counselors donate the sale items.

Items ranged from the traditional, such as Camp Emmaus T-shirts, to the imaginative, such as a soda can holder featuring an image of Hare riding a dinosaur. Campers and counselors created many of the items, including framed photographs, paintings, hand-knit scarves, and a duct-tape wallet. Bidding was spurred on by incentives for reaching various levels: the director being thrown in the pool, a counselor wearing a bright pink shirt for the day, and another counselor’s mustache being colorfully dyed.

Hare said he was impressed by the campers’ generosity, which will provide scholarships to attend camp for children and youth who could otherwise not afford to do so.

About three dozen youth attended this year’s senior high camp during the last full week of July, one of six age-group camps offered by Emmaus this past summer. The camp also holds family camps over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, a women’s camp, and other events. It is one of 29 Church of the Brethren-affiliated camps located across the US.

www.campemmaus.org