New.

New Year. New Blog. New Projects. New Life.

Another year has flown by and it's time to say goodbye to Project 365. But make no mistake, this blog is here to stay. It's a new year and time to make a few a changes, and I'm excited to share with you all the new and exciting things happening at camp.

Last weekend was a breath of fresh air for Yona. Not only was the weather a perfect sunny 65 degrees, but there were busy little bees starting some new projects. Huge bundles of 2x4's, 2x6's, 4x4's, and plywood were delivered on Friday. Just being able to see all the lumber sitting on the property was enough to make me giddy.

Billy Joe Hayes, owner of Hayes Custom Homes, is donating his free time to help get us started. We are so thankful for him. On Saturday we grabbed a few volunteers and with the guidance of Billy Joe began to turn the piles of lumber into walls.

We spent a lot of time cutting the 2x4's down to size and organizing our piles.

We quickly got into a rhythm and had an assembly line going.

Measure, mark, pass along, cut, organize, assemble, repeat.

By Sunday evening the team had framed all the walls for two cabins, framed the walls for the well house, and cut the boards for eight picnic tables!

The next work weekend is scheduled for Feb 25th, 26th, and 27th. Mark your calendars and come be apart of breathing new life into Camp Yona.

Week 28: All I Want for Christmas

Song of the Week: White Christmas by The Drifters

If you're still looking for a few last minute Christmas Presents, here are seven suggestions of gifts that give back.

1. Toms Shoes

With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.

2. Tshirts

Rosa Loves and The Yellow Bird Project are two organizations offering a good variety of cute and comfy tshirts with a purpose. All the proceeds from the shirts support different causes. You can read all the stories of the tshirts on their websites.

3. Donate to a charity in honor or in memory of someone.

There are tons of charities worthy of your support. If you are donating in honor or memory of a loved one, try looking for charities supporting your loved one's interests.

4. Sponsor an Endangered Animal

Give a gift that helps protect life on Earth. The World Wildlife Fund has hundreds of animals to adopt, as well as other ways to support the charity.

5. Gifts in Actions

Give a gift that lasts well beyond the Christmas Season and helps provide lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Organizations like Oxfam American, Heifer International, and Samaritan's Purse give you the opportunity to help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant.

6. Build a Nest

Nest empowers female artists and artisans around the world, helping them establish small businesses and moving women from poverty to self-sufficiency.

Nest offers a wide variety of beautiful handcrafted items and jewelry from the women in their program, as well as established "artists helping artists".

7. Volunteer

Spend time with your loved ones volunteering. You could ring a bell for the Salvation Army, serve a hot meal to the homeless, or spend time with an elderly person in a nursing home.

Hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Week 27: Fall Favorites

Song of the Week: Harvest Moon by Neil Young

This week I'm highlighting just a few things to love about fall...

FOOTBALL and cheering on your favorite team.

Not only are the colorful leaves something to love about fall, but also being about to play in the piles of fallen leaves.

Fires. In the fireplace or out in the yard, I love cozying up next to a flaming fire.

Pumpkins.

Thanksgiving! Camp Yona has so much to be thankful for this year. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people who love and support us.

Weather. Everyone loves a day in the mid-seventies.

Activities. There are so many fun things to do during fall .... apple picking, fall festivals, carnivals, corn mazes, hay rides.

Week 26: Lately

Song of the Week: I'm in a Hurry by Alabama

We've been busy the past couple of months, and I guess this blog has fallen to the side. I'm back and ready to fill you in on what's been happening lately.....

We added sewing to the list of enrichment activities. I LOVE to sew, and think it will be a great skill to teach our girls.

We spoke to the local Rotary Club and even got our pictures in the paper.

We saw a bear.

We are currently working with a grant writer to file all the necessary paperwork to apply for a long list of grants. Keep your fingers crossed.

We started volunteering with a local charity, Life Source. They salvage food and distribute it to local families in need. We are excited about the relationship we are building with them, and can't wait for our girls to get involved.

We are currently working out the details to have several work weekends throughout the winter. Will let you know when we've set the dates.

We are excited to introduce the newest member of the Camp Yona team, Moe. Moe is the Director of Snuggling. In his spare time he loves to fetch tennis balls, coordinate games of hide-and-seek, eat hotdogs, and play with squeak toys.

Week 24 & 25: Vietnam

Song of the Week: One Day by Matisyahu

Drew and I had the pleasure of spending the past two weeks in Vietnam with a ROW team of six; where we met inspiring people, dodged chaotic traffic, dined on delicious dishes, listened to heartbreaking stories, celebrated successes, absorbed the breathtaking countryside, and sang and danced with beautiful children.

The team was able to spend several days with the staff of Children of Vietnam, who have recently started a Empowering Foundations for Women and Their Children Program. The program gives single mothers, particularly with daughters, the opportunity to move their family out of poverty. By providing safe housing, bicycles for the children to get to school, school costs, and micro-loans for businesses; the program allows women to build a better future for their children. We were able to visit several of the families participating in the program, and it was powerful to hear firsthand the impact the program has on each family. The photo above shows one of the women we met. With a micro-loan furnished by COV this mother was able to open a fruit stand in the market, and can now afford to send her children to school.

Week Twenty-Three: Chipping Operation

Song of the Week: Hard Hat & A Hammer by Alan Jackson

A little over a month ago Camp Yona rented a chipper to clean up the property. It was quite an adventure. Here's our story ....

When the loggers came through a couple of months ago, they left a little bit of a mess behind. We finally decided it was time to clean up our roads. The photo above is the "before" shot.

The first step in the clean up process is to use the chain saw and clippers to free any trees which are still attached. The trees are then dragged out the woods and stacked in neat piles lining the side of the roads.

The previous step can also often involve swinging from vines like Tarzan. Yes, it is completely necessary.

We then drove the chipper down each road and tossed the stacks of trees in. He can eat little trees, as well as ....

really big trees.

We are then left with huge piles of shavings which can be spread on trails and campsites.

And our roads are once again nice and pretty.

Please note that should you choose to attempt a chipping operation in the heat of a Georgian summer, it is quite possible that at least one, if not all, members of your team will sustain injuries. It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it.

Week Twenty Two: So Long For Now

Song of the Week: How the Day Sounds - Greg Laswell

Hey y’all. Ashley here. I am so sad to report that this is my last blog for Yona; I’m already back at school and miss it so incredibly much! I think that this is the perfect opportunity for me to tell all of you readers why I love working for Yona.

1. The people are amazing. Seriously. Sometimes it’s hard to find people that inspire you and make you want to be a better person. Drew, Katie, and the rest of the Yona team do just that. And they’re also very funny. I can’t think of one day at work that I didn’t laugh or smile within about 30 seconds of being there. Katie and Drew became two of my best friends, and I can’t remember one day that I came home from work unhappy.

2. I never got to go to a summer camp, so being involved in Yona is helping me finally get my “summer camp fix.” I spent countless summer nights laying in bed watching my favorite TV show, Bug Juice, which was about a summer camp. I longed for the adventures, friendships, activities, and relationships that can be found at summer camp, but I never got to experience them myself. Working with Yona has made me so happy by thinking about all of the possibilities for next year at camp, and being there to help make decisions and basically do whatever needed to be done has been very exciting for me.

3. I have learned so much. Anywhere from how to get your name out there and the process of branding to the accreditation process to the fact that Katie has met Andy Roddick, I leave this internship with a large amount of newly discovered and learned information.

4. I absolutely love working with children. Although I never got to actually work with girls this summer, doing something that will result in children having fun and learning things to help them throughout their life makes me so happy.

5. There were a lot of firsts for me: my first internship, helping start my first controlled fire, my first vacation with work, clearing my first trail, pulling my first vine off of a tree all by myself.

6. I went through the same exact issues that girls are going through just a few years ago, and I can’t wait to help them build confidence in themselves to get over the some of the issues we talk about. I’m sure you agree with me when I say the statistics we have posted on the blog, website, and in the brochures are very alarming. The statistics remind me of how I felt when I was younger. One particular statistic stood out more than any other- the large percentage of girls that avoid daily activities because of the way they feel. At first, I thought “are you serious?” but then I remembered that all throughout middle and high school, this was an issue for me. I never spoke up in class because I was too afraid I had the wrong answer. There were many days in high school that I didn’t go to school because I didn’t like the way I looked- I didn’t have good enough clothes or I thought my face looked bad. I am so excited that I have been and will continue to be involved in helping girls develop the self-confidence to raise their hand in the classroom or to go to school even when you just don’t feel good enough. I am so proud to be able to say that I am involved in an organization that is going to give girls the confidence that I never had when I was in school.

7. It has taught me patience. Just like everyone involved, I wish so badly that camp had been up and running this summer - that we had cabins, a dining hall, a program building, and girls at camp. I learned that things take time, but that it all pays off in the end every little step is worth something. One day in particular that taught me something stands out: one day, Drew, Katie, and I went out to camp to clean an area by the river. Although we were only out there for 2 hours in the smoldering sun, with the effort of us all, an area that had never been worked on before looked amazing when we were finished. Katie and I picked up branches, raked leaves, made a clear spot for the campfire area, and raked a trail. Drew cut down a lot of trees that were in the way. Within 2 hours, the area looked so beautiful.

(that's me and my amazing housemates!)

Anyways, I hope that everyone had a great summer. I know that I did, and Camp Yona was a huge part of that. I can’t wait to hear about the updates from miles away at school.

Oh, how could I forget? GO DAWGS!