Community Foundation grant helps local Girl Scout camp

Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois (GSNI) would like to extend its gratitude to the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley for a $10,000 grant that has enabled the organization to renovate a facility at Camp Dean in Big Rock, Illinois. GSNI also thanks all of the individual donors to the Community Foundation that help make grants like this one possible.

Camp Dean serves girls (both Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts) from 6 through 17 years of age from throughout the greater Aurora area, including its west and northwest suburbs. The camp can accommodate up to 100 girls and adults at a time; approximately 1,200 Girl Scouts utilize Camp Dean each year for summer resident camp, day camp and troop camping experiences. Camp Dean offers the beginning camper the opportunity to explore nature, learn new skills and have fun in a group of her peers. Camp Dean is fully accredited by the American Camping Association, a distinction that only one in four camps seek and earn, and indicates the highest standards of health, safety and program quality.

Thanks to this grant from the Community Foundation, GSNI was able to provide much-needed updates to the Foxes Den, which serves as the nurse's office, First Aid cabin, and houses program staff during the summer camp season. Kitchen facilities in the Foxes Den are used primarily for storing girls' medication and first aid supplies, which are administered by the Registered Nurse during day camps and summer camps. Money received from the Community Foundation was used to install new countertops and cabinetry that is more easily sanitized to meet Health Department standards, new and improved lighting, and safer and more efficient electric and plumbing fixtures. All of these improvements will help GSNI provide girls at Camp Dean with a safe and fun camp experience for years to come!

For more information on the Community Foundation, visit www.communityfoundationfrv.org.