April 3, 2020

Dearest Friend,

I hope that you and your loved ones remain in good health during these uncertain times.

Although Frost Valley has faced its own challenges, we are earnestly pursuing efforts to respond to this crisis by serving communities. W e pledge to continue to do everything we can to minimize the impact of COVID-19.

Few youth development organizations in our state are set up to respond to this crisis in the way that we are, and we feel an obligation to offer what we can to those affected. Thanks to our remote location and incredibly vast property that allows for extensive social distancing, we've started the following efforts to provide aide to those who need it:

  • As you know, many medical professionals, first responders, grocery store employees, and other essential workers are faced with the difficult choice of protecting their communities or caring for their children. For this reason, our small but mighty onsite daycare program, Little Rainbows Daycare, remains open as an emergency childcare option for children of essential workers. For more information about how we are safely conducting this service, visit our Emergency Daycare webpage
  • For several years now, we have partnered with Denning Town Hall to provide around 100 free meals each week that are delivered by volunteers to residents of our town who are unable to prepare or purchase food themselves. Although our kitchen is no longer serving meals to guests or schoolchildren, we are committed to continuing this vital service, and we are in the early stages of partnering with the United Way to expand the program to get food to families beyond our small town.
  • Frost Valley has donated produce from our Educational Farm's greenhouses and hundreds of eggs from our hens to Neversink General Store in support of their efforts to supply daily breakfast for schoolchildren. As outdoor crop production begins to pick up, we expect to provide even more fresh produce for families.
  • We're also in the early stages of working with state and county agencies to understand the feasibility of emergency overnight childcare for children of medical personnel who serving in the epicenter of this crisis in the city. I will update as soon as we know more details, but the hope is that children will be able to safely attend a camp-style program while their parents serve on the frontlines of the crisis.
  • On a lighter note, we're also making sure the children who are home right now have plenty of opportunities for engaging educational and recreational hands-on experiences. We published a few educational videos to various social media channels, and our summer camp staff are now offering "Virtual Camp," which brings camp activities into the homes of our campers through live video calls. And although children in our after-school program are home right now, every weekday our Director of Community programs emails their families educational resources such as virtual tours of National Parks, at-home scavenger hunts, art programs, read-alongs with authors, and more.

I felt it was important to touch base with you and let you know that although our gates are temporarily closed, Frost Valley is still here, carrying out our mission and values. Everyone in the Frost Valley family is in our hearts, and we look forward to the day that we can see everyone here at camp again.

Sincerely,

Jerry Huncosky
CEO