You are invited to attend the annual hope4christmas party on Saturday, December 17 from 10:00 a.m. to noon.  The party will be held in the Fellowship Hall at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church.

We’ll enjoy cookies, hot chocolate and cider, sing carols, give presents and have lots of fun celebrating Christmas with our Camp Hope campers!

Please join us for our Christmas celebration and be sure to RSVP if you plan to attend by calling the Camp Hope office at 770-977-7751 or RSVP to Judi Horne.   

Important Note about Gifts:

COUNSELORS: If you had a camper, please bring a general gift for a camper. You only need to purchase a gift if you had a camper. Please don’t spend more than $25.

• Girl counselors bring a gift for a girl camper and boy counselors bring a gift for a boy camper.
• Purchase a gift that is age-appropriate for the Cornerstone (3rd-5th grade) or Leadership camper (6th-8th grade) you had.

kidz2leaders, inc. (k2l) is participating in The Cobb Galleria’s 2nd Annual Festival of Trees!  There will be a k2l Christmas tree on display at the Embassy Suites Hotel Atlanta-Galleria hotel lobby from November 21, 2011 through January 5, 2012.

You are invited to visit the hotel and vote for the k2l tree during this time by making a financial donation.  The charitable organization who has the most “votes” by December 15 wins an additional $1,000!

Dan Kauffman, President of of J.E. Dunn, presents k2l Board Chair Mark Droege and Board Member Wayne Durham with $10,000 from the first annual J.E. Dunn Hammer Down 5K & 1K Fun Run.

Intern and Camp Hope Counselor Swan Volunteers at the J.E. Dunn Hammer Down 5K

A BIG thank you to J.E. Dunn for their generosity to kidz2leaders and Camp Hope – we look forward to next fall’s 5K!  Thank you also to those who sponsored, ran, volunteered or donated towards the event.

Put on your running or walking shoes and join us for J.E. Dunn’s Hammer Down 5K and 1K Fun Run on Saturday, October 15 at 8 AM in Sandy Springs.  Race proceeds benefit kidz2leaders, inc.   Sign-up Today!

The race will start and finish at the Perimeter Place Office Building at the corner of Mt. Vernon Hwy and Barfield Road in Sandy Springs.

Registration Details:  $25 for Adults and $15 for Children (18 and under)

• Register online at active.com.
• Download Registration Form to sign-up or donate.
• Register at site on Race Day.

We’ll see you there!

The goal of the k2l Mentor Program is to pair an adult (21 years of age and older) with a Camp Hope camper to offer year-round support, friendship, guidance and encouragement to children who attend Camp Hope.  The Mentor Commitment involves:

• One-Year Commitment
• Meet with mentee at least 4-hours in person a month(this can be over one or many visits throughout the month)
• Weekly contact via phone, e-mail, text, Facebook, etc.

Please contact me for more information about the mentor program or if you will be attending the meeting on Sunday, September 25.

Thank you!

Cris Hunt, Director of Programs

cris.hunt@kidz2leaders.org or 770-977-7751

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” – 2 Corinthians 3:3

The Camp Hope Concert was amazing and it turned out just how I expected it to be. Never thought I would get the chance to sing with the wonderful Mrs. Diane Parrish. It made me cry on the inside, and the opportunity to do it to help raise money for camp just sent  shivers down my spine. Just being able to be there and worship God in the church with my brothers and sisters in Christ was breath taking.

Thank you to everyone who supported the event by attending, bidding on an item or donating financially.  The event raised over $30,000 which will help support the year-round programs of kidz2leaders including: Camp Hope, interns4tomorrow, the mentoring program, hope4christmas as well as field trips and retreats with the students.  For more information about kidz2leaders, inc., please visit www.kidz2leaders.org.

Rev. Diane Parrish commented on the success of the benefit concert:
Often people ask me, “How will I know when kidz2leaders d/b/a Camp Hope is successful?”  Well, anyone who came to our event and saw those 9 students performing with me could not help but see the success.  Do you know how proud I was to see how far those students have come?  To sing on stage?  I remember the day they first stepped off of the bus on their first day of Camp Hope.  What a blessing!  See how far they have come and yet I know in my heart that “Greater Things are Yet to Come!”

Check out pictures from kidz2leaders’ Annual Benefit Concert and Silent Auction held on Sunday, August 28 at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church.

kidz2leaders’ annual Benefit Concert will be held on Sunday, August 28, in the Sanctuary at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church.  The concert will feature performances by Rev. Diane Parrish and testimonies from our Camp Hope campers.

New this year will be a Silent Auction which will begin at 5:30 followed by the concert at 6:30.   We hope you’ll join us for this special event that allows kidz2leaders to make a change in the lives of inmates’ children.

Camp Hope is celebrating Christmas early this year and collecting items for Camp Hope 2011!!! You can help Camp Hope by donating snacks, packs of water, $15 or $20 Wal-Mart gift cards or scholarships for campers to attend Camp Hope. Drop-off your donations in the collection boxes placed in the Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church Main Office.  Mt. Bethel UMC is located at 4385 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta, GA 30068.

Be sure to visit our table in the Narthex on Sundays June 26 and July 10 to take a tag off our Christmas tree. You’ll also have the opportunity to purchase exclusive Camp Hope sunglasses for a donation of $5!

Call the Camp Hope office at 770-977-7751 for more information or questions.

A new interns class started in the interns4tomorrow program.  The 12 interns began meeting monthly in January and starting next week, will begin their internships for the summer.  Interns will work for 3 weeks at different business sponsors in the Atlanta area including Cbeyond, Concord Drugs, The Harwen Companies, IDI, Jackson Healthcare, MIQ Logistics, and QBE FIRST.  Please keep our interns in your prayers as they travel to and from their internships!

Thirty Camper-turned-counselors attended the annual Counselor Retreat the first weekend in April.  The retreat was held at Camp Evergreen in North Georgia and focused on “Walking the Talk.”  Our three days together allowed students to fellowship together and deepen their faith.  We also spent an entire day riding horses and ziplining at the nearby Sunburst Stables.  The weekend was a memorable one!  Check out pictures from our Facebook page.

2011 Counselor Retreat

In May, we held our annual Camp Hope Golf Tournament fundraiser at the Atlanta Country Club.  The tournament was the highest attending golf tournament event yet with over 100 players.  The tournament brought in close to $67,000 which will go towards Camp Hope 2011!!  Thank you to everyone made the tournament a huge success!

President Diane Parrish with Bobby Cox

And last, but definitely not least, we are gearing up for Camp Hope 2011!  Only 54 DAYS LEFT!  Camp Hope will be held July 17-22 (with counselors arriving on the 16th) again the Rock Eagle 4-H Campground in Eatonton, GA.  We are busy entering camper and counselor applications at a speedy rate.  Camp Hope is blessed to have so many students and adults who are passionate about attending every year to have an impact on our campers.  Actually, some teen counselor positions are so popular that they are already full!!!  What a blessing!  If you find yourself on a wait-list, we ask for you to prayerfully consider serving in another position.  We try to accommodate everyone as spots are available.  Thank you for your understanding!

There are a number of ways to get involved with us throughout the year.  If you would like to subscribe to our quarterly newsletter where you can get more information about such events, please e-mail Cris Hunt at cris.hunt@kidz2leaders.org.

Blessings!

Cris Hunt, Director of Programs

If you were a counselor and had a camper at camp, please read below:
We are distributing general gifts to campers again this year.  Girl counselors bring a gift for a girl camper and boy counselors bring a gift for a boy camper.  Purchase a gift that is age-appropriate for the Cornerstone (3rd-5th grade) or LTA camper (6th-8th grade) you had.  You only need to purchase a gift if you had a camper.  Don’t spend more than $25 and please wrap the gift prior to the party.  Please call the office if you have any questions.

Please RSVP by Friday, December 3 by registering online or calling the office at 770-977-7751. We look forward to seeing you at the hope4christmas party!