[Rotary] RYLA 5130 2023 was a great success! Thanks to you!

[Jeffry Stubbs]

4 sounds good here.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 25, 2023, at 3:13 PM, biseball via Rotary <rotary at lists.mcn.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear Fellow Rotarians:
> 
> Below please find the follow up notes of this years RYLA Camp. As always it was an amazing experience for the young people.  This year the Rotary Club of Mendocino send two Rotaract Members to Westminster Woods (we were budgeted for 4!).  It is a life changing experience for the students and I think we should focus on sending at least 4 in 2024 (we are allowed to send up to eight). PS they don’t all have to be Rotaract Kids.
> 
> I would love your thoughts,
> Toby
> 707-357-3995 
> 
> Sent from my iPud
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: Cassie Pitkin <cassiepitkin at gmail.com>
>> Date: June 25, 2023 at 2:53:22 PM PDT
>> Cc: Strong Jennifer E <jenniferstrong at jestrong.com>, Tom Boylan <tom at boylanpoint.com>
>> Subject: Fwd: RYLA 5130 2023 was a great success! Thanks to you!
>> 
>> 
>> Hello, Rotary District 5130 President Elects!
>> 
>> First of all, congratulations on your appointments and thank you for your service! My name is Cassie Pitkin and I am our District Chair for 5130's Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). I have been involved in RYLA since 2006 when I attended as a camper. I've been involved ever since and I am honored to now be a member of the Rotary Club of Petaluma and the District Chair. My goal is to continue to grow RYLA; we had 39 students attend in 2022 and this year, we had 56. My goal for next year is 65, but I would be thrilled to hit 70. We also had seven clubs send campers in 2023 who did not send them in 2022...an even bigger goal is to have 100% participation from clubs throughout the district!
>> 
>> I'm reaching out to all of you to share the recap email with some metrics and anecdotes about the power of RYLA and how it benefits the campers (and Rotary!). I am working on setting the dates for next year and establishing the final amount for each camper, but I anticipate each camper being $700-750 next year; I'd like to keep it at $700 like this year and will do everything I can to do so. The camper fee covers their transportation to and from camp, room and board for the week, speaker stipend, camp supplies and more. 
>> 
>> I know you have a lot on your plates, but as your budgets are finalizing, if you could consider including camper costs, RYLA and I would appreciate it. In terms of numbers, clubs send anywhere from 1 to 8 campers each year; sending at least two is recommended, but not required. The more, the merrier! If I can answer any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out!
>> 
>> Thank you for your time,
>> 
>> Cassie
>> 
>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>> From: Cassie Pitkin <cassiepitkin at gmail.com>
>> Date: Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 5:28 PM
>> Subject: RYLA 5130 2023 was a great success! Thanks to you!
>> To: 
>> 
>> 
>> Hello, Rotary District 5130 members and supporting community!
>> 
>> 56 campers stemming from Petaluma to Crescent City got on their buses on Friday from Westminster Woods. I've told many of you that an informal success metric I use is how many campers are crying because they don't want to leave; I'm happy to report that we hit 100%.
>> 
>> For more tangible review metrics, we asked campers to fill out a survey before they left. We have 52 responses and more are still trickling in. Here is an overview of the results:
>> 96% either strongly agreed or agreed that they have a better understanding of Rotary after attending RYLA
>> 96% either strongly agreed or agreed they would recommend to their peers that they should attend RYLA
>> 96% either strongly agreed or agreed that they felt like they belonged at RYLA
>> I've you'd like all of the open-ended responses, I'm happy to send them to you! Here are some highlights:
>> When asked, "How would you describe RYLA to someone?"
>> "I would describe RYLA as a fun camp to grow and change perspective. You get taken out of your comfort zone but in that you build a level of trust with people that share similar morals and goals. You get to build relationships with people in the most beautiful way because there is no judgment and that allows you to get vulnerable and build strong relationships from the get go."
>> "A camp not only about leadership but about understanding the people that are lead."
>> "RYLA is truly an AMAZING place where the counselors have you create a family with your peers. Where you learn valuable life lessons that change your perspective on life for the better. Where laughter, creativity, and happiness flourished. A place where you feel safe to speak about anything and everything no matter if it is personal or not. In conclusion, RYLA is a place that feels like home and an experience that made me a better person/leader!"
>> Other comments:
>> (from an outgoing Youth Exchange student): "I would just like to express my gratitude to everyone who makes this experience what it is. RYLA transformed me in ways i don’t even know how to explain except that when I was sitting on the top of the mountain looking at the stars last night I started crying and felt so happy and so at peace that I know something really cool had happened this week. I made new friends and learned so much about myself that I'm definitely carrying with me forever. This experience better prepared me for my year abroad than any other training I've done. thank you thank you."
>> "I loved it. It’s an experience I will never ever forget and will always cherish. It completely changed my life and it truly will shape the course that I continue on. It taught me more about myself and changed the way I perceived others. I found so much love at RYLA for myself and for others and it made me realize how much I really do appreciate strangers and storytelling. I found connections that will last a lifetime and I am so beyond grateful that I went. All of the consolers were so welcoming and really became like a second family and every camper became someone I could rely on. There’s so much more to say about the special people and place that makes RYLA what it is but I do not think I could encompass all of it. RYLA will forever have an impact on my life and will always hold the place in my heart as the best week of my life. If there is ever a need for counselors in the coming years (or if I could just come back as a camper) please please please consider me, it would be an honor and a pleasure to come back and change other campers' lives like all of you changed mine."
>> SO MANY PEOPLE contribute to RYLA and I want to try to acknowledge as many as I can. RYLA would like to extend it's sincere gratitude to:
>> Carol Martin, D5130 Treasurer, for putting up with me and shifting numbers all the time; Carol, your work is very much behind the scenes, but it is VERY appreciated!
>> Wulff Reinhold for helping make sure all counselors and visiting Rotarians are properly vetted
>> Larry and Marilyn Lira for coordinating the Rotary-provided meals and for being constant sources of support in-person throughout the week (and ensuring those with dietary needs receive equitable meals)
>> Eve Yeomans and Lee Reposa for being constant RYLA cheerleaders, coordinating rides and taking care of the insurance
>> Westminster Woods for being such generous and accommodating hosts year after year
>> Anne at Thunderstar Stages for being so flexible with transportation needs and for getting the campers to and from camp safely (highly recommend them for your personal and professional transportation needs!)
>> Lace House Linen for professionally cleaning all of the camper and counselor shirts prior to camp at no charge to RYLA
>> Sims City Cuts and Vicci Moto for donating the counselor sweatshirts and helping us screenprint a unique RYLA 5130 logo on camper shirts
>> Rotary Clubs of North Napa, Middletown, and Fort Bragg for sponsoring campers from other clubs!
>> ALL OF THE RYLA CONTACTS FROM EACH CLUB for your dedication to identifying and recruiting campers; it is not easy, yet you were able to send 20 more campers than last year! Ukiah and South Ukiah originally planned to send 6; they sent 8! Lakeport planned to send 4; they sent 6!
>> All of the RYLA speakers:
>> Corazon Healdsburg, Kerry Rego and Desire to Inspire Studios for keeping the campers engaged and helping them understand their unique abilities to be leaders in their communities
>> A special shoutout to Jennifer Strong and Tom Boylan (and Marilyn Lira!) for kicking off the week for us; you set an incredible tone for the rest of the week and helped paint an amazing picture of Rotary for the campers. It meant a lot to have you both out there.
>> Career Night speakers! THANK YOU! Many campers reflected on how their version of success is much broader now and they understand they take different paths to get there
>> All of the Rotary clubs who traveled out to Westminster Woods and provided a meal for the campers and counseling staff; you took amazing care of us
>> THE COUNSELORS who put their outside lives on hold, travel across state lines and give 200% of themselves to the campers
>> Thank you for reading this novel of an email. Please feel free to share with your clubs! I will be sending out another (much shorter) email with the recap video and dates/information for next year soon.
>> 
>> Sending all the RYLA love and gratitude,
>> 
>> Cassie
>> 
>> --
>> "A broken crayon still colors..."
>> Cell: 707 217 6082
>> Email: cassiepitkin at gmail.com
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> "A broken crayon still colors..."
>> Cell: 707 217 6082
>> Email: cassiepitkin at gmail.com
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