Helping to “Teach what matters most” Today and in the Future
By Michal Horace
My name is Michal Horace, and I am the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Louisville. I was a camper in the 1970s and a staff member in the 1980s at Camp Ondessonk. After moving back to the Midwest in 2017, I started using a week of my vacation days from work to volunteer for a week each Summer.
I strongly believe in Camp’s mission to bring outdoor experiences to young people and to build the Kingdom of God in a way outside of mainstream culture. What a gift to today’s youth! Camp also trains and prepares their staff to accompany campers as they build community and experience God’s creation together. This indirect evangelization makes every staff member a youth minister. Most of my career has been in professional Catholic Youth Ministry and I have no doubt that my camper and staff member experiences at Camp Ondessonk influenced my career choice and prepared me for ministry.
Most of my favorite memories of Camp revolve around people. I enjoyed my unit leader, but it’s the lifelong friendships I made with staff members that I cherish the most. Camp was so formative in my life that I have chosen to make it one of the benefactors of my annual charitable giving. I have proudly donated annually to Camp O for many years now. When Camp established the Campfire Circle, it was an easy transition for me to switch my annual giving to monthly giving.
There is one additional commitment that I have made. As I reflect on the many people and organizations that have made significant positive impacts on my life, Camp Ondessonk is high on that list. Because of this, I have named Camp Ondessonk in my estate planning as an organization that will receive a portion of my estate. While other people and organizations will also get portions of my estate, I am proud to share a part of my treasure with a Catholic Summer Camp that meant so much to me. I know that my final donation will further Camp’s mission.
Learn more about joining Michal as a member of the Campfire Circle or the Le Coeur Society by contacting Whitney Strang, Director of Development, at 618-695-2489 x114 or whitney.strang@ondessonk.com. If you have already included Camp Ondessonk in your estate plans, please complete this Le Coeur Society Letter of Intent so we can recognize you as a member of the Le Coeur Society.