DAYTON — Less funding means fewer activities for some summer camps. News Center 7 was in Dayton and learned how a summer camp with 30 kids could shut down because of a lack of funding.
Kaden Bernardi, who is a camper, is three days into a six-week summer camp learning life skills that could help him lead a business one day.
“It’s my first time, but I hope she can continue doing this and she gets the funds, so please donate,” Bernardi said. “I already have building plans. I don’t have them on me, but I want to help children with mental health issues.”
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Bernardi and the other 30 kids in the New Direction Learning Center’s Summer Camp are also learning how important state grants are. It’s the first summer without funding from the Ohio Department of Education, causing the camp to downsize.
Camp owner, Terri Sims, said, “Normally, I have 50 when I had the summer learning grant. Three years ago, I had up to 55 kids. This year, we were about like 30-32.”
Camp staff also took a pay cut. Now, the non-profit is operating off donations and enrollment fees, but not for long.
We’ll probably have to tell them after this year, I don’t get enough funding, this might be our last year," Sims said.
Possibly saying goodbye saddens the campers.
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