Canyon Lake UMC holds "March Madness" for camp
March Madness fundraiser for camping at Rapid City Canyon Lake UMC.
Photo courtesy of Canyon Lake UMC.
Summer is right around the corner, and that means church camp. Rapid City Canyon Lake United Methodist Church (CLUMC) has always done a pie auction fundraiser to raise funds for kids to go camping. This year there was a need to change things up and do something fresh.
CLUMC offers to pay fifty percent of the total camp cost per individual camper. A goal was set to send more than 70 kids to camp. That meant putting efforts together for a new fundraiser. Two teams were formed, one for publicity, and one for fundraising. The teams had to gather ideas, voice any concerns, plan events, and implement. Talk about church camp at the beginning of the year knowing that there was a need to do some sort of fundraiser.
Since the pastors are so much fun, the planning teams wanted some sort of fundraiser that would involve all three of them. They thought that it would also be great to get the church family involved more in the fundraising. With March quickly approaching they decided to do a March Madness-themed fundraiser. The fundraiser includes a little friendly competition.
A table was set up outside the sanctuary with three larger buckets. The buckets were labeled with a fun picture of each of the pastors. Each pastor has two smaller buckets that are labeled with two challenges, which they thought up themselves, that they would NOT want to do if they lost. The object is to put the donation into the bucket of the pastor you want to “save.” Tickets are received, according to the amount of the donation, and dispersed into the smaller buckets. It is the way donors vote for the challenge that the losers must do.
The fundraising totals are updated weekly to see who is ahead. The loser has to do a challenge, that they really are not too fond of.
The fundraiser is four weeks long. Each week, a trifold behind the buckets is updated with the amounts that have been donated. At the end of the competition, the two pastors that have the least money raised between the three will be “benched” and have to do the challenge that got the most votes. The pastor that has the most amount of money in their bucket wins and is safe!
Every member of the congregation had a blast keeping up with the scores and supporting the pastor they wanted to keep safe. The youth are the real winners here. One said, "It is so cool that pastors will do crazy things for us so that we can go to camp. They sure love us a lot!"
Canyon Lake United Methodist Church also offered a $5 canteen card to spend at the camp store to anyone who signs up before the early bird deadline—April 30— as an extra incentive. The team also promoted the fact that if they bring a friend to camp they will receive $25 off their camp fee and their friend can use their church's 50% off code.
Kids and youth are more excited to go to camp if they know which of their friends will be there too. In each elementary, middle, and high school area of the CLUMC, posters are showing who is going to which camp. Kids and youth add their names to the posters to advertise which camp they are attending and encourage their friends to do the same. With younger campers, it is also important to let kids know which adults are going so they feel more comfortable spending the night away from home.
"As a church, we feel it is important for kids to be able to experience God’s love through camp," says Erin Woods and Heather Massingale, the two leaders for youth and children's ministry at CLUMC. "We wanted to make a fundraiser that would get the kids involved as well, in hopes that it will get them excited for camp! Each week kids and youth do short skits in front of the church to encourage and remind parents to sign them up."
Erin and Heather interviewed a few kids throughout the church and asked them what their favorite part about camp was and why it is important to them. Here are their responses:
“I like going to camp because we get to go on hikes!”
“Going to camp is fun because we get to stay in cabins!”
“It has been really fun to watch the March Madness Camp Competition between the pastors!”
“Camp is important for me because I meet people and get to connect with God while having fun!”
"At Canyon Lake United Methodist Church, we have been blessed with such a giving congregation," says Kevin Koster, lead pastor. "People feel the importance of sending our kids to camp. We hope to be able to make the March Madness Camp Competition an annual fundraiser. "
