The financial piece of the camp puzzle was always a challenge. Donations helped to stock the camp store, keep up maintenance on various buildings and aid the camperships, but fees were raised incrementally each year. Many references were made in the camp committee minutes of board members donating, even as they sat on fundraising committees.
In 1932 the financial situation was discussed at the camp committee meeting and members were asked to do what they could do towards “wiping out the deficit for the 1932 season” by raising monies.
In 1933 a suggestion was made to save money but having neighboring camps purchase supplies together. Some leaner years, letters were sent by the committee to local businesses to cover the expenses on major projects as a donation.
In 1936 the financial report stated the income was $5,793.30 and the expenses were $5,181.61, which did not leave a huge amount to carry over into the next camp season. The minutes stated, “no actual profit was made on camp last year, so we have no balance to start the coming camp period.”
On March 31, 1937, “Mrs. H.B. Smith gave the camp $100 to reduce the principle on the camp note. $40.90 was raised with $5 more promised, which would purchase the deep sink, double boilers, butter cutter, can opener, carving knife and two wire whisks”, the minutes read. It wasn’t just new roofs and increased salaries that were needed!
** There was always the matter of salaries and where Maqua fell in relationship to other camps. “In comparing our salaries for counselors with other camps, it was brought out that ours were 50% lower,” the minutes noted in 1943. Salaries were then researched and a suggestion was made to use the surplus to pay larger salaries.
There was a letter drafted on January 28, 1952 in the files signed by “….a small group of Bay City people….(with) a sincere interest in and enthusiasm for Camp Maqua”, hoping the letter would be taken seriously enough that contributions could be generated for capital improvements. It was directed to parents of campers past and present and anyone else who would be interested, without going through solicitations from the YWCA or larger campaigns. The money would then go to install a new sanitation system to replace the condemned one, new toilet facilities, a power line and right of way, a new road and various other needed projects. A separate page detailed the “Gifts Received from Special Maqua Campaign-1952”, which totaled close to $1,000.
By 1971, the committee was concerned about increasing the enrollment and by 1975 another funding drive was in place. The Camp Maqua Improvement Fund Drive listed the amount pledged as $15,737.32. The Osthelder Foundation had supplemented individual pledges with their donation of $2,500.00. It was always a never-ending story of shaking the tree for money to keep camp afloat.
Were your parents part of any fundraising for the camp, or sit on the committee or board of the YWCA?