Message from your Board President, Rachelle Lee

Looking back on the past few months, I continue to be impressed by the dedication and hard work of my fellow Board members, Eliot staff, Deans, camp staff, and Eliot volunteers whose contributions meant that our community could stay connected and fulfill our mission:

Eliot Institute creates and supports an intentional, inclusive community of celebration, friendship, and joy with opportunities for exploration, spirituality, and growth for Unitarian Universalists, their families and friends.  

The easy way, and the direction many organizations chose to take during COVID, was to cancel everything and put events on hold until we’re no longer in a pandemic. We’re different. Through careful consideration of all the science and recommendations being provided by health officials, your Board wasn’t willing to make an easy, hasty decision. Instead, we moved to having monthly Board meetings so we could discuss and decide in real-time with current information.

We established go/no-go dates so that we could provide Deans and staff with as much time as possible to create a great camp experience for our community. We are continuing to follow the same process and taking it one step further by forming a working group with Deans and camp Board Reps to prepare a plan for 2021, using what we learned from 2020 virtual camps and defining contingencies. We commit to ensuring our Eliot Community receives communication about those decisions as early as possible, every step of the way.

On the financial front, the pressure has eased a bit and we are in decent financial shape in large part because of the generosity of our community. We put out the call for help in our NEST (Nurturing Eliot & Seabeck Together) fundraising campaign, and those of you who could, answered the call.  We are forever grateful for your support. The latest totals for NEST show that our community donated a total of $35,902 through this campaign, providing $24,255 to support Seabeck, and $11,647 to support Eliot.  Adding in other donations made to Eliot during the summer means the support for Eliot totalled $16,365 to help us continue providing camps and events in the future.  

We are also very pleased that we have 200 people signed up for each camp in July and August 2021. Some clarification around deposits: Eliot Institute makes deposits to Seabeck to book the facilities. If camps don’t run, Seabeck defers those deposits to future dates. Conversely, camp registrants make deposits to Eliot with their camp registration…those deposits are secure and will be refunded to campers if required. If you haven’t already signed up for camp next year, please consider doing so.

And as I’m getting to the end of writing this for the newsletter, I’m reminded of Frederick the Mouse, a story that is often referenced or read at camp, and is so relevant in a pandemic (synopsis: A Mouse With A Message). Like Frederick, I’ve been accessing and storing memories from years at Eliot camps, and now I fondly add the great moments from our 2020 camps and events. No matter if there are days that are up, that are down, or sideways, I sit and contemplate those stored moments of joy. Even though we have lost a year of in-person camps, we have still gained so much, and I smile as I remind myself how sweet it will be when we can all laugh together, catch up with each other’s lives, build new relationships and hug again.

In the words of Dr. Bonnie Henry, the beloved Provincial Health Officer of British Columbia:

BE KIND. BE CALM. BE SAFE.

I wish you a peaceful and joyful end to 2020.  

Rachelle Lee
Eliot Board President (2020-2021)