An Evening For Jackson

“The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.” -Anonymous

I stumbled across the quote above many weeks ago. It truly explains many of my thoughts around the evening we spent at camp.

Back with old friends.

Seeing a dream come true.

Reliving sweet memories.

Many great things do come in threes. For example, I like to believe that Russ, Jackson and I make a pretty awesome family of three. Or how about this one....

  

In just three weeks, an incredible amount of money has been raised for Jackson's Scholarship Fund.

I wish I had more photos to really share everything about this evening from a visual perspective. Someone should really come over and just slap me across the face for not photographing this experience like I should have. Perhaps I was just living it and enjoying it :)

On with our evening.....

 We arrived at camp a little after 7:00 PM on Friday, July 13th. The weather all day had been touch and go, so we were unsure about where this event would take place until the last minute. I had talks with Jackson all day long about either 1) trying to show up with some sunshine for at least a few minutes or 2) just holding off the rain for a while. Turns out he was able to hold the rain, and we were thankful.

We all met at the chapel and walked down to the waterfront together. Many of us had not been back to camp in many years, and we were surprised at the new cabin upgrades (hello, air conditioning?), new cabins and the fact that the colosseum now has a roof on it!

The waterfront looked just the same. Just how I remembered it. Just how I like it.

I have always loved the waterfront. It feels like the heart of camp to me. Yes, there may be new cabins and other additions to camp....but the waterfront is where it started in my mind. It has stayed the same for years, and I hope it always does. The waterfront is a funny thing. It can be the craziest place with kids, life jackets, kayaks, paddles and clothing everywhere but it can also be a calm, quiet place. A great place to gather your thoughts. A great place to honor your angel son. For that reason, WE will always love the waterfront.

Ken O' Kelly, the Executive Director for YMCA Camp High Harbour kicked off the ceremony with a lovely message. He talked about how he remembered my days at camp and the years I spent as a counselor and program director. He talked about the impact of the scholarship, and the lives that it will touch. At the end of his talk, he presented us with the plaque that will go on the rock wall either outside the dining hall or the waterfront. It is perfect. A sweet way to remember Jackson, and when people see it they will ask what it means. It is a way to keep his "fire" and legacy going. When someone asks what the inscription means, that person can be directed to anyone at camp who knows our story and they can also learn about the scholarship fund. Every time I hear "Pass It On" from now on, I will think of him and camp. That is a beautiful thing. Here is the plaque:

 Next, Jennifer came up to speak for a few minutes about Jackson and the scholarship fund.  She and I have an interesting component to our relationship. We can make each other cry by looking at each other. She pulled out the big guns on her speech. She researched the meaning of Jackson's name.

As I mentioned in my last post, the sound of my son's name may bring tears to my eyes but it never fails to bring music to my ears and sings to my soul. Hearing his name at this most special place caused tears to flow. She said his name at the most perfect time. Here is what his name means:

Jackson means God is Gracious.

Neil means champion or passionate.

Sure, you could argue that the meaning of his name is hard for us to take or understand. Often times it does not feel like God is Gracious when we think about the loss of our sweet boy. It is easy to get mad and question why this happened to us and why God took him from us so soon. Nothing about this situation feels gracious or kind. He should be with us. All we can do is stay grounded in the fact that he was too beautiful for Earth and that God needed him. We must believe that this happened for a reason. Here is what we believe:

He needed a champion.

A champion of young children. A champion who has a huge heart that cares about deserving children. A champion who has won the hearts of so many. A champion who will give back to the world, forever.

Then, Jennifer shared the latest total.....hold on to your seats for this.......

In just 3 weeks, the little angel champion raised $9,797.24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe that?!

I am fairly sure that earns you some kind of special angel status up there. A definite promotion. I am envisioning him with some kind of sheriff style gold badge that says "Head Of The Fundraising Committee" and maybe some extra flying privileges from the big guy. He may be 10 weeks old, but he can sure rock the house! His name also means passionate, you know. I think we have a passionate champion. Watch out, world! Angel on a mission. We love you Jackson Neil and we could not be any prouder!

That is the total revealed on Friday.

As of noon on today (Monday), we officially broke the $10,000 mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We really made it. An endowment fund in Jackson's name. A dream come true. A fund that will go on forever. Every single year many young children will go to camp because of so many people's donations. Russ and I would say that it is one of the single most powerful things we have ever seen or had the opportunity to be involved with. We are blown away and so very humbled by this outpouring of love.

 

Unbelievable. I guess it pays off to be a dreamer :)

I will update weekly as the fund continues its journey. Maybe someone can teach my how to put on of those fancy little fundraising widgets on this site. That would be nice. We can just watch this fund grow and grow! Together. It is only 3 weeks old! Who knows how much it will grow, but I can tell you that it will grow. I suppose that $10,000 dollars is now the "floor" for this fund :) There is a sassy, feisty little angel in charge, and he knows exactly what he is doing! If I am guessing what he is planning, I think that he wants to send truck loads of kids to camp! Go Jackson Go! We have always believed in him, and that will never, ever stop.

After Jennifer shared the fundraising total-to-date, Meredith came up to present us with the box of letters from the everyone who sent in donations. She did an outstanding job. We had a good cry and a good hug. 

Let me tell you something about Meredith. Did you know that it was actually her idea to start the scholarship? She came up with the concept and pitched it to Jennifer....and well the rest is history.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Meredith had the spark and she has lit hundreds of candles with it.

We are so grateful for you Meredith. It is an honor to know you, and we are proud to call you a friend. You are a beautiful person inside and out. Thank you for your passion, strength and love. You have helped glue our hearts back together again with just a little spark. We love you very much.

We spent a few extra minutes hanging out at the waterfront before we walked to closing ceremonies. It was so nice to give everyone an extra hug and a big thank you for coming to camp that evening. As we have learned at camp, you should always take the time to tell someone how much they mean to you and how much you appreciate them. 

Russ and I are thankful for all of you. We love you!

Then came closing ceremonies.

Oh, my. It was something. It is vibrant, fun, crazy and loud. Lots of cheering, clapping, singing, and dancing! We watched some of it, but a lot of the time was spent swapping funny stories and memories from our days at camp. That is always a good time! Here are the blurred photos I have of it.....

Taking it all in.....his eyes were huge at many points during the evening!

After all the camper and LIT awards were given out, it was time to quiet things down and close out the evening. It is one of my most favorite moments during the camp week.

We sing Give It Away, Light the Fire, Pass It On and High Harbour. I love all four of these songs.

Russ and I sat side-by-side on the back wall of the colosseum, held hands and sang these powerful songs. As soon as I saw the lyrics to Pass It On, I lost it. The emotion came up and out. All I could think about was Jackson and how much I loved and missed him. However, it was a completely different kind of emotion, one that I had not experienced before. It was not one of heartbreak and emptiness. It was actually the opposite. It was a feeling of being proud of him, loving him, and knowing that he is doing such incredible things from heaven. For the first time in nearly 10 weeks, I felt truly at peace. I was comforted and I felt like I could breathe again. Maybe because there was so much life around me. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by more love than I knew what to do with. Maybe it was my son lighting his mama's candle again.

Ken made an announcement that he was lighting a very special candle. After he lit it, he passed is flame along to many other campers and staff who were nearby. He then walked up the center isle and gave his candle to Russ. Then Jennifer came behind both of us and gave us another candle that matched the one given to Russ, and I lit my candle from his flame. Amazing. Tear fest 2k12.

They were not just any candles. See for yourself!

 

They are absolutely beautiful. A matching hand carved set with blue butterflies! We love them, and they are so special to us. Pass It On with a keepsake? Well, isn't that something!

We will cherish these candles for many, many years.

 After Pass It On, it was time to say good bye. 

Time to thank everyone and hug it out. It is always your least favorite part of the evening. You feel like you just said hello and now it is time for goodbye! Russ and I are so thankful for every single person that came to camp that evening, or donated their hard earned money to the scholarship fund, or had a part in planning it all. You mean the world to us. You are some of the most amazing people we know.

Favorite messages from our box of letters (they are incredible):

"It is my HOPE, that the children (yes, plural, we will send many!!) that receive this grant, share all of our love for that special place 'way up in the mountain tops' and are able to see the HOPE that it provides."

"Allowing other children to experience this little piece of heaven in his honor is such a fitting tribute, and we are so pleased to contribute to the fund."

"I think you perfectly captured the meaning of CHH and the special place it holds in our lives, which makes it that much more special that Jackson's Scholarship will help the next generation of campers create their own memories. I am in awe of God's grace just thinking about your son's impact on the world in such a short time."

"I know this will not take the pain of losing him away, but I hope that this fund will help you both smile knowing a child is having the time of his or her life because of Jackson's life. I pray many children will experience happiness and camp because of Jackson." (Amen, sister.)

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."-1 Corinthians 13:7

"I know my donation is not much but I also learned at camp that 'you can do a lot with a little'!" (love that)

"Think of every cent that is donated to Jackson's Fund as a smile--one that you would have given him or one that he would have given you. That's about 5,000 smiles as of right now!" (over 10,000 smiles now! Keep those smiles coming!)

"I considered writing this note on 'fancy paper', but given our long history at camp together, a note card seemed more fitting." (You know who you are, and I love this note card! Perfect. Love a good note card or just a scrap of paper.)

These are just a few of many wonderful notes. We will treasure these notes forever, and they will certainly help brighten our days when we need it most. Keep them coming, folks! 

 Every cent is a smile.

Every cent is a laugh.

Every cent is a friendship.

Every cent is a memory.

Every cent is a dream realized.

Every cent is a spark.

Every cent. Every single cent.

$10,000 and growing. You can still donate--click here! Every cent makes a difference! We can do this! Go ahead and try and say NO to JND :) He is too cute and sweet to turn down! Donate, you will feel great about it! Be the person that changes a child's life.

As we say at camp....

I'm glad I did.

Donate. You will be glad you did.

Pass It On.

Thank you for loving and supporting all three of us. We are getting better because of all of you, our newly promoted sweet angel, and every single cent.

With grateful and full hearts,

Emily and Russ

The New Normal.

"When love is lost, do not bow your head in sadness; instead keep your head up high and gaze into heaven for that is where your broken heart has been sent to heal. " ~Author Unknown

The New Normal. 

Whatever that is.

This week I....

Hooked back in with this

Packed up this

Got into this

Tearfully said goodbye to him (the worst part)

And drove off into these

Yep. That's right. Back to work. 

Back in the saddle.

It had to happen at some point, and we both came to the conclusion that it was time. No point in delaying it and no point in not getting life back to "normal". We have found over the past 8 weeks that the busier and more distracted we are, the easier the days turn out to be. The more tired we are going to bed, the more peaceful we sleep. You get the picture.

I think it is along the same lines of when you take your kids to the pool and spend the whole day just wearing them out....then they sleep like rocks that night and generally are much more subdued. The pool is just a vehicle to distract and exhaust the busy mind and body. Right now, the "pool" is work for me. Keep me busy. Keep me active. Keep my mind sharp and always on task. Just keep me distracted. 

Just a few days in, and so far, so good. 

Obviously there was, and still is anxiety around returning to work. But you know what? Anxiety with a side of grief will always be in my life. I have a permanent hole in my heart that I am just not going to bother refilling. No point there. I learned a valuable lesson this week. You can live with a hole in your heart. It hurts, but you can survive. Living is exactly what my son would want me to do. Life must resume. I will be strong.

I have found that every step that I made this week was a good one. Forward movement. One little step at a time. I am starting to feel like myself again, and it actually feels good.

Every face that I missed so much over the last 8 weeks was there for me. Exactly where I left them. They were all there with a big long hug, an extra hand squeeze, and even a few tears. They all melted my anxiety away and my son delivered me an extra dose of strength. I found that I could clearly articulate how I was doing and how I was feeling without losing it. I did not stifle any emotions, but found that I could actually say many things without a turning into a puddle on the floor. I encountered a few people who did not know what happened, and I just handled it. I cleared that hurdle with ease and grace, all the while making sure the other party did not feel uncomfortable because they innocently inquired about Jackson. I felt so strong and so very proud of myself. Russ would say that "Vintage Emily is coming back", and he would be right. She is back.

 One of the biggest questions I receive these days is:

"Do you want me to ask you about Jackson?" or "Do you want me to say his name?"

The answer?

YES. YES. YES.

Here is a quote that I love, and one that I feel eloquently addresses my (our) feelings:

"The mention of my child's name may bring tears to my eyes, but it never fails to bring music to my ears. If you are really my friend, let me hear the beautiful music of his name. It soothes my broken heart and sings to my soul."

A perfect quote to say exactly how I (we) feel.

I want you to ask about him. If it is not a good moment, I will tell you.

I want you to say his name. He is real. He is our son, who just happens to be in Heaven. We are parents to an angel. Every time someone says his name, my heart smiles. It is almost like every time someone says his name it makes up for all of the times I wish I was saying it to him daily as I held him in my arms. No matter how hard we try, we will never get to say his name as much as we would if he were here. Our arms may not be full of baby, but our hearts and souls are completely full with Jackson Neil and that is where he will always be.

Say his name. It is music to our ears.

 Another question I get frequently is:

"What is the hardest thing for you right now?"

Outside of the obvious of just missing him more than I can put into words and having a void in my life that  cannot ever be filled.....

It is holidays.

Every single holiday. Big or small.

I (we) have dealt with Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, and July 4th. Then add in a 1 and 2 month old birthday. All of them feel like bullets to the gut that you just have to take. I had made plans for all of them.

As women, we make holidays what they are. I mean come on. For the most part, Christmas is Christmas because mama bear put everything in motion. Thanksgiving generally happens because a mama is there peeling potatoes at 1:00 AM, yet still manages to be ready the next morning to prepare outfits for the children to wear for the big feast. Sure dad gets to carve the turkey, but mama did everything else before that.

Whether we realize it or not, we innately prepare for the holidays either 1) as young adults before children are even in our lives or 2) by spending the whole year planning every little detail of every holiday for our children. We want perfection. We want the memory. We want our children to remember everything about the holiday. The sounds, smells, traditions, excitement, the silly festive outfits, the obligatory family photo session, and above all, the straight up family love.

I woke up on July 4th thinking that Russ and I should be discussing whether to put in him in a seersucker romper or whether to go with a super festive "Happy 4th" onesie. We should be seeing if we can find a parade in town. We should be figuring out what time to grill our dinner that works best with feeding and sleeping time. We should be starting our own family traditions. This is the stuff we should be talking about, instead we are fumbling around the house trying to make sense of the day.

So, yeah, I am a holiday junkie. I love them. Needless to say, the holidays are hard and painful. We wish he was here to celebrate them with us. I have a seersucker romper with his name on it and an empty memory card on my camera ready to take a thousand photos of him.

 The new normal. This is it. We have arrived. Life must resume.

Both my boys and a footprint in this photo. Love :)

Thank you to everyone who made the tough return back to work smooth,easy and overall less painful. Thank you for your constant love, prayers, and support. I love all of you. If I have not seen you yet, I look forward to that over the coming weeks! I am giving out free hugs :)

 We have a busy couple of weeks coming up. Thank goodness. Distraction city.

This coming Friday we head to camp for the dedication of Jackson's Camp Scholarship Fund! We cannot wait to go to this wonderful event, and we are very excited to see some old friends! It will be Russ' first time visiting camp, so that should be a real treat!

In just over 2 weeks, this fund has generated over $5,000! WOW! We are half way there to raising enough money for an endowment fund! Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable. Powerful. Humbling.

Do your thing, Jackson Neil :) We are so proud.

We can do this. There is still plenty of time to donate!!

I am looking forward to sharing all about our trip to camp. That should be a beautiful and emotional post. Camp makes me cry on a random day, so this could be a doozy :) Fair warning, folks. Fair warning.


We love and miss you JND!

Love,

Emily and Russ

Beach photo dump......

 

Oh, my. Colorful distressed planks of wood + antique hooks=cardiac arrest. Want? Yes. Need? No. *sigh*

 

Jackson's Camp Scholarship Fund

"Way up in the mountain tops
Touching the blue sky
There is a place I long to be"
YMCA Camp High Harbour Song

One of my favorite places on Earth is just 2 hours away from my house, here in Asheville.

You can find this little piece of Heaven nestled in the North Georgia mountains on the beautiful Lake Burton. This is where I spent every summer from 1992-2004.


I have had the opportunity to travel overseas and see much of the United States, and without question, YMCA Camp High Harbour is one of favorite places. Period.

I know that I am not alone when I make a statement like that.

I miss this place, and think about it often. Especially RIGHT NOW because it is summer time, and I know that right now little campers are finding their way to their first skill (class) of the camp week. Right about now I would be doing roll call and telling tower that we are CHECK for that skill. I could be doing any number of things like pulling out materials for an arts and crafts activity, explaining archery techniques and form (I am no Katniss Everdeen, but I can teach a decent archery class), getting ready to go on a nature walk, pulling out canoes to take a flock of campers on the water, or calming squealing campers that are ready to go out and water ski. Teaching campers something they have never done or had the courage to do, is just one of about 1,000 things I miss about this place.

I can still hear the sounds of camp. The slow creek of a cabin screen door opening and the immediate slam it makes a second later. In comes a group of excited campers ready to tell you exactly what they did in first and second skill, and how much fun they had doing it. I can hear the sounds of the dining hall right before a meal. The hum of the kitchen hard at work and the sound of upbeat music to energize the staff and campers inside preparing the meal. I can hear the sounds that the entire waterfront makes when a really great "blob" takes place--a loud splash and cheering for the latest airborne camper. I can hear the sounds of morning exercises. The sounds of counting jumping jacks and windmills, clapping after each set, and yelling at the boys and the "old lady across the lake". I can hear the sounds of night time in the mountains. The chorus of insects firing up for an evening song, the crackle of a camp fire on Wednesday nights, cabin groups doing cheers as they walk to night program, constant laughter, and even the sounds of staff members telling campers to take a shower with a few last minute reminders to not forget to clean their ears (even though the staff have not done either in, well, days).

These are just a few sounds I still hear. I could sit here and name a hundred. All of them a sweet sweet memory. All of them I would give anything to go back and relive, if just for one day. Camp is a huge part of my life that will always be so very special to me, and place that I love.

I can make the following statement:

Everything that I have learned in life, I have learned from my parents and camp.

I like to make the tennis analogy that my parents set-up the serve, and camp followed it up with a perfect ace. Camp and parents. That is how it is done. A perfect balance.

I learned how to be responsible.

I learned about honesty.

I learned about respect.

I learned how to always serve others first.

I learned individuality.

I learned how to think on my feet.

I learned how to diffuse problem situations with tact and ease.

I learned a proper handshake. I even learned how to wave and smile even when you are about to burst into flames from heat exhaustion.

I learned you should always be early to something, and never late. 

I learned that you should always tell someone how much you love and appreciate them.

I learned how to be outgoing, personable, and conversational.

I learned that you should always be yourself, and that everyone appreciates you for exactly who you are.

I learned about friendship and life-long relationships.

Above all,

I learned how to be a leader.

I had the opportunity to spend some time just the other day with a dear camp friend and his precious wife. We have known each other for years, and would say that we have been through it all together. We were not even talking about camp, and out of the blue he says, "Gosh, I miss camp. I miss it so much. Best years of life spent there."

Ditto, my sweet friend. Ditto.

In that moment, I could have cried.

Just a few weekends ago we attended a wedding of a pair of dear friends, and another one of my great camp friends was also in attendance with his fabulous wife. I asked my sweet camp friend if he ever looks at his watch and knows exactly what they are doing at camp that very moment. His response?

"Absolutely, all the time."

Ditto again.

I just had to ask.

Years and years after we have all moved on and "grown up" (yeah, right), we still think about our days at camp. We are always and forever a part of it.

(Push Off the Mat night program. A favorite. When you work with the youngest of campers, they insist on getting to paint the counselor. Fierce and fabulous war paint, or at least we liked to think so.)

The friendships I have made are of a different league.

Lifelong, quality relationships.

I think of all of them and smile. I know the impact every one of them has made on my life, and I can articulate what each of them means to me. We may not all get to be together as much as we would like, but the memories and experiences we all had together makes up for that. When we do get to see each other, it is like time never passed. I love all of them and I am grateful for all them.

I should note that I spent the majority of my camper years and the first part of my staff years at the Lake Burton site. I spent the last 3 years of camp working as a staff member at the Golden Isles site (on Jekyll Island). The site at the beach has since shut down, and moved to Lake Allatoona! Soon there will be a third site at Lake Lanier! Multiple sites, same amazing experience.

Some of my favorite memories are from my final year at camp. Summer 2004. I was the Program Director for the Leaders-In-Training (LIT) program. This program is for teenagers that are ready to be a part of the leadership program and become staff members. This program is one that they apply, interview, and then place into. They come for 3 week sessions. It is no easy program, and not every LIT becomes a staff member.

I loved this program because you have the opportunity to be a leader for amazing young people, but the sweetest part is getting to watch them grow into the most outstanding leaders. Being a leader is one thing, but watching them grow and become leaders is entirely different--it is better.

I love these kids, and I think about them often. I wonder what they are up to, and how they are doing. I do know that many of them are still with camp in higher leadership roles!

I would love to go back and have a morning devotional with all of them.  We could carry kayaks and the lifeguard stand one more time. Amazing young adults. Amazing leaders. All of them. They still make me proud. They helped shape me into who I am today, and they had no idea they were doing that at the time.

Leadership.

We have a song that we sing on closing night at camp.

It is called "Pass It On". We start the song with a single burning candle, and by the end of the song the entire amphitheater is filled with everyone's burning candles. One candle lights hundreds. No lights. Just the warm glow of candles. It is my favorite single moment of camp. It is so beautiful and so powerful. Usually, everyone is crying by this point in the evening.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going,
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;
That's how it is with God's Love,
Once you've experienced it,
You spread the love to everyone
You want to pass it on. 

I share this with you because this song keeps ringing in my ears lately. It is special because of its spiritual and emotional meaning, but it now has a new meaning to me.

Last week while we were at the beach, something amazing and really unbelievable happened. I received a text message from one of my dearest friends, Jennifer Lancaster aka JR. She informed me that they wanted to start a camp scholarship fund in Jackson's honor. Can you believe that?! 

I had to scrape myself off the the floor when I read the text. I even showed it to Russ because my eyes could not believe. He has never been to camp, but he married camp when he married me...and he was floored by the text.

Oh, and a plaque on the dining hall in his honor. I mean really, they had me at just the plaque.

She had already assembled a team of angels to pull through this scholarship fund. Everyone was on board before the text was ever sent to us. The ball was rolling.

It only takes a spark, right?

I think this is a little more than a spark, as we are about to set things ablaze here.

Leadership. Jennifer, you are an outstanding example of that.

I just completed reading book called "Stepping Up", by John Izzo Ph.D.. The whole book gives real life examples of where people saw a need and decided that they were the best possible person to address that need, so they stepped up--thus change. The book says that change does not happen because people have more resources (i.e. time and money), it happens because of grit, determination, dedication, and passion. Jennifer has everything we need for change. Girlfriend just done stepped up.

She loves our son and she loves camp. These two loves combine beautifully for a scholarship camper fund in Jackson's honor. This fund will send kids to camp that will not normally have the opportunity to go. As his parents, we are honored to see young  deserving children have the experience of a lifetime. They will learn everything I mentioned above, and then some.

How is that for a Footprints and Hope story?

If you are reading this, I am asking you to consider donating to this fund. This is exactly how we would want to remember our son.

Many people over the last 7 weeks have asked me, "What can I do?" or "How can I help?". Here is your answer. Plain and simple.

Jackson's Camp Scholarship Fund.

We will never have the opportunity to send him to camp, but this is a close second. If we cannot send him, lets send many many other campers there in his honor. For Russ and me, knowing that other young children will get to experience this little piece of Heaven makes us so very proud. We know that our angel will take care of them the entire time they are there, and they will have a life changing experience. Our son will have the impact we are craving through this fund, and it is one step closer to having the world know his name. He. Is. Amazing. We miss him and love him so much. This type of thing makes our days just a little brighter. It gives us strength. It gives us HOPE.

He will Always and Forever be a camper.


If you cannot think of an amount, let me help you and have some fun with numbers.

$5 --he was born in May, the 5th month

$7--that is $1 for every day they are at camp and he was born on the 7th of May :)

$12- that is how many years I spent at camp

$57.12--combine all the above numbers and you get that amount or even cooler...he was born on 5-7-12 :)

That is as cool as I can get with numbers. Anything past that is just pushing it and getting creepy.

We need $700 to send one camper to camp THIS SUMMER. We are already half way there with donations :)

I have always been a dreamer.

Here is the dream.

We need $10,000 for it to become an endowment fund. Can you imagine an endowment fund in Jackson's honor? I can. I believe in it. I know this can and will happen.

That is a whole lot of campers getting to go to camp every single year, just like we would send him to camp every single year. An endowment fund will go on for as long as camp goes on and will impact so many children.

Honor him by donating any amount to this fund.

Ask your employer if they have a matching program for charitable contributions. Many employers do! Even if they do not match, your donation is 100% tax deductible!

Here is the information you need to send a donation:

Make checks payable to:
YMCA Camp High Harbour

And mail checks or money to:
Jennifer Reeves Lancaster
1090 Christian Drive
Watkinsville, GA 30677

Thank you Jennifer for your dedication, determination and passion for camp and Jackson. You are an amazing, lifelong friend. You are a blessing in our life, and we are grateful for your love. All 3 of us love you very much.

It only takes a spark, to get a fire going.

My candle is lit, and this is me passing my light to you. What will you do? I hope you will donate and pass this along to other friends and family members. Share your light.

We are so very thankful.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:14-16

Love,

Emily and Russ