The Executive Director of the Catholic camp at St. Malo admits there is some panic as they prepare for the summer camp season. Roland Rivard says that is because they have been declined a provincial grant, which helps them hire staff.

Rivard says their camp is a non-profit organization that relies heavily on donations and grants. He notes over the last number of years they have been able to rely on funding from the province through the Urban/Hometown Green Team program. Rivard explains that this grant offered by our province enables the camp to hire young people, aged 15 to 29, to earn a good wage while serving in a ministry that they are passionate about. 

Rivard says that over the last number of years, they have received on average between $30,000 and $35,000 annually. On May 10th, the camp received a letter informing them that their grant request had been declined. As a result, Rivard says they are getting nothing through the program this year.

"When you budget in about $30,000 to $35,000 expected for a grant and you don't receive it, it does hurt quite a bit," he admits. 

Rivard says it is worrisome as they try and figure out how to adapt without this money. He notes they need to bring in quality counsellors to ensure the safety of campers and make sure they have a good time. 

Rivard says they are also one of the only French overnight camps operating in Manitoba. As a result, they need to attract bilingual individuals, which there is more demand for. 

"Students, young people that are looking for summer work, they do require some sort of compensation a lot of the time," notes Rivard. "So, it makes it difficult to attract them to work at camp for the summer."

Rivard says they have made the difficult decision to reduce the number of full-time staff they have for the three months of summer. 

"We're just going to have to rely more on volunteers during the busier weeks," he points out. "Maybe hire some people just casually during the busier weeks when it's going to be more difficult."

Rivard admits that they had considered capping their camper registration numbers, just to place less strain on counsellors. However, he notes that is not something they want to do. 

"We would rather just ramp up our efforts to attract new volunteers, new mature adults, maybe parents who want to take some time out to come work for a week," he says. "And also increase our fundraising efforts to try and make up for the shortfall."

Rivard says it very much feels like they received this news at the 11th hour. He notes they do their budgeting before January and usually start hiring in April and May. 

"If we had found out about this two or three months ago, we would have felt a lot more comfortable," he says. "But you kind of go into panic mode when it comes at the last minute."

Rivard says this decision came completely out of the blue, without warning. 

He notes they have not had to contact any staff to let them know that they will not have a paid position this summer at the camp. That is due in part to the fact that many of their staff experienced some burnout last year and have decided not to return in 2024. 

"That's another reason that we're a little bit worried about having fewer people on our leadership team this year," he says. "There was already some burnout last year and we're forced to stretch people a little bit thinner again."

Anyone willing to volunteer or help out this year should visit the camp's website. 

Meanwhile, Rivard says having received money through this program in the past, he is uncertain why the change in fortune this year. He says it has been suggested that Christian and other religious organizations are the ones having their grants cut. 

"There's a lot of questions that need to be answered," says Rivard, noting he has reached out to the province but has yet to get an answer. 

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