A Letter From A Thankful Parent

To The ENTIRE STAFF at Camp Ondessonk,
Tears still fill my eyes. My wife and I picked up our son, Kyle, this morning and I am yet to get through an hour without getting all “mushy”.
Today marked the end of Kyle’s third trip to Camp (Brebeuf Rules, he tells me) and our first visit to the ‘Parents Reception’. Mr. King delivered an excellent presentation (Tear #1). One which opened my eyes in many ways.
I was born in Carbondale in 1961 and my family now resides in Belleville (St. Teresa School and Parish). I have never attended Camp and quite frankly, hadn’t thought to much about my son attending either. I assumed Camp Ondessonk was a convenient break from the summer boredom which I remember so much from my childhood and Kyle has always come home happy and has wanted to return every year. I never gave much thought to what Kyle was actually getting out of this camp, except time away from home ‘to let his hair down’ and have some fun.
As Mr. King began his closing with,”You are entrusting this staff WITH YOUR CHILDREN, so we try to do a good job”, (Tear #2) and as the video began of the JOY in these kids’ faces (DOWNPOUR)….Priceless!!!
THEN, the Campers are singing, and crying with joy and sadness, that its over. I’m 6’4″, 49 years old, and I’m trying to hide my tears as I see my son, for the first time in a week, emerge from the the Old Dining Hall. We began the process of checking out and finding Kyle’s belongings, when a boy (I believe also from Brebeuf), hands me $22 and tells me ” Excuse me sir, you dropped this”. Before I realized that I did NOT drop $22, the kid was gone! I was SHOCKED! I asked Kyle if he saw that kid and his response was…” It doesn’t matter who it was, nobody here would have kept that money…its just the way we are”
I have never seen anything like this mornings’ chain of events in my entire life! The joy, the love, the kids and the Staff at Camp Ondessonk…WOW!!!!
I have been convinced by current events in the News Media that, “The World is falling apart” and “people are just not the same as they were ‘when I grew up’ “, THANK GOD I WAS WRONG !!!
And THANK GOD FOR THE STAFF AT CAMP ONDESSONK!!! Please don’t stop what you’re doing, the future is looking a lot brighter because of YOU! (Tears again) And for the past three years I thought it was ALL ME raising such a great kid. Who would have thought I had all this help from ” a summer camp for a bunch of bored kids”?
THANK YOU ALL, with all my heart!

RON RENSING
REGIONAL SALES ACCOUNT MANAGER
INNOVATIVE FACILITIES SOLUTIONS
ORION ENERGY SYSTEMS

To find out more about our summer time programs visit our website at www.ondessonk.com.