Dear CAMP friends and supporters:
We're gonna be honest with you – we need your support now more than ever. Like so many in this economy, we are feeling the pinch and facing a financial crisis. At the exact time that building community-based solutions to the problems facing us is so important, we are facing the stark reality of an operating deficit.
$25 a month (or $1 or $100, we're not picky) from 100 people would move us from a deficit into an abundance that would allow us to move forward hiring more people with the energy to create programs and continue to build the community space we have worked so hard to get operational over the past 5 years.
If you can support us, please donate today - you can use the paypal links on this page for a monthly donation, or support us with your credit card through networkforgood.
http://stlcamp.org/donate/
It is so important right now to have a space where people can come to figure out how to stick together, work together, and support each other through the times ahead. A space that is dedicated to figuring out what type of world we want to live in and building it from the bottom up, a place where sustainability is a key value, a place where mistakes are made, but we keep on moving.
We are always open to your energy, ideas, and enthusiasm. We also have office space for rent at below-market prices to other progressive organizations that share our values of using art, media, education and education to build a socially just and environmentally sustainable world. We are currently seeking volunteers to help run our bike shop and our computer lab or that want to bring their own passions to a community space. Our performance space is available for a nominal fee for presentations, meetings, rehearsals, and shows.
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So here's our Harper's Index style rundown of what we've been up to here in South St Louis for the past year:
Total income through grants and donations in 2008: less than $20,000
Number of volunteer people-hours in 2008: over 4,000
Percentage of building rehab done by volunteers: 90%+
Number of bike tubes replaced in our bike shop: 100+
(Number of those that went to one youth that liked to ride through piles of nails): 8
Number of rebuilt bikes we put on the road: 25
Number of people we averaged every week that came to the shop: 20-30
Number of days of after-school and summer youth programming we had: 75
Number of times youth broke into the space to clean the floors and organize the shelves: 2
Number of out of town and international activists, artists, and organizers hosted: over 20 plus an entire circus
Number of murals painted by neighborhood youth and our art intern from Wash U: 1
Number of times Crank That (Soulja Boy) was played in the space: 1000+
Number of weeds pulled from garden: lost count, but not enough
Number of kids that ate enough cherries and peaches from our fruit trees to get sick: 2
Number of full-time paid staff members we have : 0
Number of full-time paid staff members we could use: as many as we could hire
Number of new galleries that have opened within a mile radius of CAMP in the past year: 8
Number that offer youth programming: 0
Number of pictures taken in a summer photography class hosted at CAMP: over 1,000
Number of movies/documentaries that were shown at CAMP that weren't shown anywhere else in St Louis: 10
Number of families in the area that have been able to receive a free computer and shared wi-fi access so far from CAMP: 1
Number of computers we have waiting to be fixed and made available to low-income residents of Benton Park West: 25
Number of computers we have available for free use: 5
Amount we charge for anyone to rent our beautiful bamboo-floored performance and show space: $30-$50
Number of square-feet of pure potential we have available: 10,000+
Number of offices we have available for rent at below market prices for progressive and community-based organizations: 2
Number of lead focus group organizing meetings the Greens have hosted: 3
Number of months the IFCLA has been hosting a weekly bilingual cultural exchange and language learning program at CAMP: 6
Number of issues of the Confluence (http://www.stlconfluence.org/) and Synthesis/Regeneration (http://www.greens.org/s-r/) sent out of CAMP: thousands
Number of things we could do without your continued support: 0
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Please dig deep and support grassroots activism and community change! No amount too large or small.
www.stlcamp.org/donate
CAMP is a registered 501(c)(3) and all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Over the past year we have hosted everything from dance rehearsals to presentations by Israeli activists working in Palestine, from neighborhood meetings about lead poisoning to parties and barbecues, from language classes to fundraisers for other activists, from homemade instrument building sessions to a weekly mental health support group.
We continue to move towards our goal of being model of urban sustainability. We offer a low-cost cooperative living arrangement for local organizers and activists and regularly host people traveling around the country or the world working on exciting projects.
If you have an idea for a program or event you would like to have at CAMP, please be in touch with us at coordinator@stlcamp.org
We are also open to exploring fiscal sponsorship for new organizations and short-term or long-term rental agreements for space use.
Thanks in advance for your support, your energy, and your ideas!
Building a new world in the cracks of the old...
the CAMPers