Hey everybody, this is Steve.
And as you may have seen, the Ionian Village campsite in Greece was hit by some pretty
severe tornadoes earlier this month.
Ionian Village is the international Summer Camping ministry of the Archdiocese, and over
the past 46 years, over 18,000 young people have been a part of this amazing program.
To learn more about what exactly happened at IV, and what comes next, I invited Father
Evagoras Constantinides to join us and give us all an update!
Hi Steve, thanks so much!
So first of all, will there be summer camp in 2017?
Definitely!
Continuing this ministry is our top priority, and we're already busy making preparations
for next summer.
Session 1 is scheduled for June 24 - July 13, and Session 2 is scheduled for July 21
- August 9.
And registrations opens on March 1.
So what exactly happened at IV earlier this month?
Well, on September 8th, a tornado came up off the ocean and made first landfall at the
campsite of Ionian Village.
The camp suffered a ton of damage.
And while there was no crippling damage like buildings being completely destroyed or anything like that, the
damage that we did sustain is pretty extensive, adding up to over one million dollars.
As a former camper and staff member, someone who's loved Ionian Village for over 20 years,
the most devastating thing though was that over 600 trees were completely knocked down
or ripped apart, including The Pines where we have held our Orthodox Life sessions for
over 40 years.
This is a really special part of camp, and to our campers and staff members, it’s more than
just trees, it's the place they learned about their faith, themselves, and their relationship
with God.
So what happens now?
Well, we have already begun to cut and clear the trees from the property.
Once that is done, we will more thoroughly assess all the structures to make sure that
they are safe and then we begin repairing the damage to the infrastructure and facilities
of the camp.
At the same time, we will begin working on a full design of how to re-landscape
the entire property.
Once that is all said and done, we'll start work, in addition to everything else that
happens yearly, in order to get camp ready for Summer 2017.
I'm sure the last month has been crazy for you, Father.
How have you been holding up?
Steve, hearing that a tornado ripped through Ionian Village wasn't easy.
I rushed back to Greece as soon as I could to inspect the damage.
Those were rough, demoralizing days.
Yet we've also seen such an outpouring of love for the camp in the past few weeks.
We started our online fundraising drive, and have raised over $100,000 to date!
Past campers and staff members from over the years have reached out to us with their support
and offer to help in whatever way they can.
Experts in construction, landscape design, engineering, and more have all offered their
help to Ionian Village as a service of love for the camp.
And of course, thousands of people across the Archdiocese have joined us in prayer.
It's hard to stay upset in the face of such overwhelming kindness and love!
So what can we do to help?
Well Steve, There’s a lot.
First and foremost is for us to continue joining together in prayer so that the people that
will be working on the camp over the next several months can do so safely and quickly!
The second thing we can do is help raise funds in any way possible to support our #RenewIV campaign.
A lot of people have asked about the camp having Insurance, and yes, we do have insurance,
and at the same time we are pretty confident that the costs of getting our camp fully up and
running, and recreating the beautiful environment it has always been will exceed what insurance
may possibly cover.
So many people have already donated online, and so many parishes have already begun to
do fundraisers and send checks.
We are so thankful to each and every person, and each and ever community who donates!
And lastly, spread the word!
There are over 18,000 alumni that have passed through the gates of Ionian Village, and many
of them may not even know what happened at the camp.
Share this video and encourage your friends and family to be a part of our #RenewIV campaign,
not just to raise funds, but to ensure Ionian Village continues for the next generation
to come.
Thanks Father for the update.
Ionian Village is such an important part of our Y2AM Team and our camping ministries,
and we're all looking forward to an incredible summer in 2017.
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