Week Ten: THANK YOU!

Song of the Week: Kind & Generous by Natalie Merchant

This week we are highlighting those people who have made Camp Yona a reality. We are blessed to have so many people willing to invest in Yona's future, and we are forever grateful to those people who believe in our vision.

The pictures this week represent individuals and companies who...

rendered professional services ...

made financial contributions ...

and donated items to enable Yona to begin building it's dream.

EMI

Irby Construction

Rayle Electric

Reynolds Plantation

Vampco

Magnolia Metal and Plastic Products

ROW

GA Forestry Commision

Johnson Logging

Richards Land Development

Lake Oconee Properties

Jere and Shelly Power

Jamie and Cathy Reynolds

Charles and Catherine Rice

Ted and Diane Hendrix

Billy and Martha Payne

Ken and Patty Bowes

Tony and Maria Barnhart

Tony and Kate Carango

Aleah Holland

Marilyn Snow and Doctoral students at Ole Miss

Ben Mathes

Laurie Malik

Megan McIlreavy and Graduate students at Costal Carolina

John Mitchell and Freddie Davis

Matt and Lauren Fogarty

Michael Morris

Dr. Dan Maico and The Pamphalon Foundation

Joey and Vicky Rhodes

Wayne and Pet Williams

Thanks again for believing in us.

For more information on how you can help, please contact:

chris@campyona.org

drew@campyona.org

katie@campyona.org

Week Nine: Start Me Up

Song of the Week: Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones

A Sisterhood of Founders: Pioneering Yona's Way

Camp Yona is so excited to announce our plans for Summer 2010. We'll be open for two weeks, July 4th - 17th, to a select group of girls: our pioneers.

This summer will be no average summer and our pioneers will be no average girls. We're looking for girls, 13 - 18 years old, that are not afraid to step out of their comfort zones to help change lives. Girls that are willing to take a leap of faith with us because they believe we can have a huge impact.

One way this summer will be different is our pioneer's accommodations. We're venturing into unknown territory that truly has not been settled yet. That means we'll be living in tents!

Though the property may physically be lacking in buildings, this summer will not lack excitement or adventure. There will be plenty of fun and challenging activities to try: canoeing, self-defense, painting, archery, fire arms safety, wake boarding, blobbing, and many more.

This summer will offer girls a unique opportunity to have some ownership in the development of Camp Yona. Whether it's helping to create Yona's traditions, develop programs that really impact girl's lives in a positive way, or physically building parts of camp. We are eager to get girls input on how Yona can effectively serve it's mission.

In order to make this summer a reality, we need volunteers. Volunteers to answer phones, get the word out, blaze a trail, teach a class, assist in building, and general cleanup. There are so many ways to get involved with Yona. 

Sunday July 4th, 2010 a few strong girls - the pioneer type - set out to discover and develop the uninhabited lands of Camp Yona. Conquering their fears and overcoming challenges, these visionary girls were willing to risk their own discomfort to be a part of something bigger than themselves .....

Stay tuned for more stories from the Sisterhood of Founders: Pioneering Yona's Future.

Week Eight: TOMS One Day Without Shoes

Song of the Week: Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson

For those of you who don't know, TOMS is a shoe company on a mission to change the world. With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. On Thursday, April 8th, I joined thousands across the U.S. and the world to go one day without shoes. TOMS challenged us to kick off our shoes for just one day to experience what it's like to not have shoes.

Thursday I .... went for my morning walk, stopped to get gas, went to the eye doctor, grabbed tea with a friend, and went to work .... shoeless. Perhaps the most exciting thing I did all day was participate in UGA's barefoot walk. A hundred plus students joined together to walk a mile path around campus to help raise awareness about the difference a pair of shoes can make in a child's life. As we walked, we talked. And as we talked, we started to ask questions. "Does this really matter? Can one person really make a difference in the world?" As I thought about those questions, I was reminded of Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror":

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror.

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could've been any clearer

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself and make a change"

So maybe what I did last Thursday will have no effect on the world. Maybe it will. All I know for sure is that I can only be responsible for my own actions, and I choose to believe that I can make a difference.

Our hope is for Yona to show girls that they too can make a difference.

Week Seven: Changes

Song of the Week: Changes by David Bowie

I was going to wait another week to do a blog on all the changes that have happened around the property, but I'm just too excited to wait. Our roads have been widened and all the areas for our cabins, dining hall, horse barn, etc. have been cleared. After months and months of planning, it's exciting to finally see changes happening to the property.

Change #1: We've got WATER! Our first well went in a couple of weeks ago. They drilled down 300 ft and hit 75 gallons a minute. For all of you (like me) who don't know much about water wells, apparently that's a lot of water. YAY!

Change #2: Tree Chopping! If you've ever had the pleasure of watching a logging company cut trees, you know how fascinating the whole process is. Really, I'm not kidding. This crazy little machine in the picture above is the cutter. He's a multitasker. He cuts trees at their base, and then uses his monster of a hand to hold the tree in his grip as he continues to cut more trees. Once he's holding like six or seven trees (and I mean really big trees, not little twigs) in his claw, then he gently lays them in a pile.

Change #3: Trees go bye bye. You can see a little green machine in the background of this picture. That's a skidder. He picks up the huge piles of trees, and drags them here to the loading dock. The yellow machine is the loader. The loader picks up a bunch of trees with his arm, and runs them through this little machine that cuts off the branches. The trees are then placed on the back of truck and hauled off.

Change #4: No more roots and stumps. So once the loggers leave, the dozers come in. The root rake pulls up all the roots, and then the big daddy dozer pulls up all the stumps. They take the mess left behind from the loggers, and push all the brush into a big pile for burning.

Change #5: New Entrance. Drew finally got to play on some of his "toys". The new third entrance, leading to the maintenance area, has been cleared. In this picture, Drew is putting the pipe under the road.

Change #6: Digging Foundations. Drew has begun the process of digging out the foundations for our cabins.

Change #7: Burning the brush. We were able to get most of the piles of brush burned this weekend.

So many changes. Can't wait to see what the next couple of weeks bring.

Week Six: Rain, Rain Go Away

Song of the Week: Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by B.J. Thomas

It's been a strange winter in Georgia. Rain. Rain. More rain. Some snow. More rain. They call it the 10,000 year flood, and it has caused us some delays building.

News Flash! It's finally dry enough to start cutting trees. Check back in two weeks for more pictures of all the changes happening on the property.

Week Five: We are the World united by love so strong.

Song of the Week: We are the World 25 for Haiti by Various Artists

Last week Drew and I were in Honduras with 33 students, parents, and staff from the Lovett School in Atlanta. We spent the week serving side by side, doing our best to try to make a difference in this world. These students had hearts for service and it was amazing to watch them give everything they had.

Yona understands how important it is to give back, and our desire is to pass this love for service along to our girls.

Week Four: Our Community

Song of the Week: Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles

Camp Yona is located in the quaint little community of Crawfordville, Georgia. This week we highlighted our town and a few of it's Hot Spots.

Downtown Crawfordville. Population 572.

Crawfordville is known as the movie capital of Georgia. Several scenes from Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon, were filmed downtown.

Alexander H. Stephens, who served as a U.S. Congressman, Governor of Georgia, and as Vice President of the Confederate States of America, called Crawfordville home. His home is now a museum and part of A.H. Stephens State Park.

Hungry? If you're ever looking for a good meal in Crawfordville, you must stop by Heavy's. It's a local favorite, and has amazing BBQ.

Margaret's Grove Baptist Church is located across the street from Camp. The church once owned our property.

Got Milk? Our neighbors do!!! Williams Dairy is operated by Wayne and Pet Williams. We're so lucky to have them next door.

Camp Yona is located in the heart of Georgia's lake country. Lake Oconee, the second largest lake in Georgia, is close by and we will use the lake for several of our water activities.

Week Three: Our Foundation

Song of the Week: If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out by Cat Stevens

Mission Statement: Camp Yona provides an exciting, safe place for young girls of all backgrounds, religions and income levels to discover the wonders of being self-efficient and self-assured. Through a wide assortment of traditional summer camp activities and distinctive specialty programs, we instill in campers a sense of the importance of integrating resilience and empowerment into their lives; while striving to provide parents and guardians with a valuable summer experience for their daughters that will have lasting results.

Our desire is to:

Enrich girl's lives through experiences that challenge them.

Empower girls to be strong, confident, resilient women that believe in themselves.

Encourage girls to be who they are and follow their dreams.

Enable parents and their daughters to better communicate with each other.

We Believe:

~ that strength is found in resilience and self-esteem

~ that every girl is "her sister's keeper"

~ that kindness and forgiveness are power

~ that God made your daughter with advantages

~ in the right to say "no" and make healthy choices

~ in the right to say "yes" and celebrate decisions

~ in the common decency of mutual respect

~ in the valor of womanhood

~ in the right for girls to be whatever they choose

~ that girls around the world are connected in the common struggle for respect and voice

Our Traditional Camp Activities are designed not only to be fun, but also challenging.

These activities include: Horseback Riding, High/Low Ropes Course, Arts and Crafts, Backpacking and Canoe Trips, Photography/Film Development, Whitewater Rafting Trips, Wake Boarding/Water Skiing, Sailing, Dance/Theater, Survival School, Fly-Fishing, Swimming/Blobbing, Mountain Biking, Go-Carting, Archery, Team Sports, Golf

Our Enrichment Activities are designed to give girls real world experiences that will help build their confidence. These include: Gourmet Cooking, Self-Defense/Boxing, Fitness/Nutrition, Shop/Mechanics, Fire Arms Safety, Dog Training, Formal Dining

This is another shot of the stacks of concrete that currently occupy about an acre of the property. We'll use some of the concrete as foundations for our roads, buildings, and go-cart track.

While our desire is for girls to have fun and challenging experiences, safety is a top priority. We are in the process of becoming an ACA accredited camp. For more information please visit the American Camping Association Website www.acacamps.org.