Connecting with Camps at Westridge School's Summer Opportunities Fair
On Saturday, February 1, we attended the Summer Opportunities Fair at Westridge School in Pasadena, CA. Our mission was to speak with as many camp owner-operators as possible about camp safety.
Mission successful.
According to SOF officials, more than 100 camps and three thousand attendees packed the school campus.
We spoke with Ilana from Camp Kodiak in Canada about her impressive waterfront (aquatics) program. We also engaged in enlightening discussions with a range of travel camps.
Most importantly, we had productive exchanges with local camps about our experience in the wake of Roxi’es preventable drowning at Summerkids camp in Altadena and the work Meow Meow Foundation is doing to help camps, parents and communities improve health and safety protocol.
Flier we distributed at the Summer Opportunities Fair.
Camp Adventurewood. Steve and Kate’s Camp. Pali Adventures. Walton’s Grizzly Lodge. And other day and resident (overnight) camps were both accommodating and interested in our foundation’s work. We learned about how they manage activities, including young children shooting .22 caliber rifles or traversing challenging waterparks.
We had an especially interesting discussion with Debbie who runs Kids Klub in Pasadena, a 25-year-old hybrid camp. Debbie proactively submits health, safety and operational information to the city of Pasadena—in other words, she wants to operate a recreational and learning environment where safety rules the day.
Debbie said she is also a former accreditor for the American Camp Association. She was astonished that the ACA mandates only 15 percent of its standards and practices. Meow Meow Foundation will meet with Kids Klub in the near future to further discuss how the past can inform the future.
Over the previous two days, we have been interviewed for a documentary directed by Chezik Tsunoda. Chezik’s youngest son Yori drowned in a backyard pool in 2018. Her film titled “No More Under” will address what she said is the “epidemic” known as drowning.
Chezik and a small crew followed us into the camp fair, but all of them were told to leave.
Finally, we had the pleasure of meeting with Ron Epstein, publisher of L.A. Parent, a monthly magazine that “provides award-winning articles on a wide range of parenting topics…making our community a better place for families.”
Ron was gracious with his time. We agreed to further discuss ways by which Meow Meow Foundation might provide educational content to his audience in exchange for the opportunity to broaden our reach.