Dear Charlie,

Thanks for being brave enough to send us a message asking about your Voyager shirts. We dropped them off to be screen printed in August and then totally forgot to pick them up….ever.   You sent us a message in March, gently asking when the Voyagers might be receiving your t-shirts.  We know it’s not easy to ask questions of a director, but we want this to be a fantastic learning opportunity…

#1 Even camp directors make mistakes. We may seem superhuman sometimes, but trust us, we’re mere mortals.

#2 It’s important to be able to admit your mistakes and even laugh at yourself every once in awhile. You can’t take yourself too seriously. I mean, honestly, those shirts sat in that store for SIX months before we realized they hadn’t been picked up.

#3 We want the lines of communication between campers and directors to always be open. We want you to know that we are ALWAYS willing to listen, no matter what you have to say.  We don’t want to be the principal behind the desk in the office who everyone is scared to go talk to.  We may have to be disciplinarians sometimes, but we care about all of you deeply and want to know if something is not right for you at camp. Our door is always open. It’s frustrating as a camp director to get a phone call from a parent in the fall about an issue their son had at camp. If we know about it during the summer, we can work hard to make it better. We hope that all campers come to us, or to a counselor, to discuss any concerns they have.

Charlie, you were chosen to be a leader in 2014 for a reason. Thanks for showing all of us how to step up and speak up. After all, we can’t fix problems we don’t know exist.