OAKLAND — This city’s nearly century-old Oakland Feather River Camp in the Sierra Nevada has survived previous attempts to shut it down — and now it faces the fight of its life because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35-acre camp — noted for providing generations of Oakland’s youth with their first experience in the outdoors with nature — canceled its summer programs last week. It faces a steep challenge to come up with at least $250,000 to continue because nearly 90 percent of its funds come from program fees.
Mark Olson, executive director of Camps in Common, the nonprofit that runs the Oakland Feather River Camp, said canceling this year’s camp “was one of the most difficult decisions I think this organization has ever had to make.
“And for many Oakland youth, their OFRC experience is their first time being up in the mountains, spending the night time away from home, swimming in a mountain creek, seeing animal tracks, star-gazing under the Sierra night sky or getting on a horse for the first time,” he said in an email statement.
Karis Griffin, recreation supervisor with the Oakland Parks, Recreation and Youth Development Department, described Feather River Camp as “one of nature’s jewels.”
“What Feather River has to teach Oaklanders or anyone cannot be underestimated,” Griffin said in a statement. “Many of us have witnessed the transformation of staff, children and parents, experiencing nature at this level and their new level of respect and understanding of nature.”
The Oakland Feather River Camp dates back to 1924, when it was founded near Quincy in Plumas County east of Chico. The site, owned by the city of Oakland, was chosen because it was close to a train station. Campers could get on the train in Jack London Square in Oakland and get dropped off directly at the camp. It’s about a 4.5-hour drive from Oakland.
In 2019, Feather River served about 2,700 campers and family members ranging in age from 6 months to 90 years old. The camp runs a full schedule of programs geared toward families, youth and adults, with about half of the campers being youth. The Family Camp has various themed weeks, including Science, Space and Sky Week, and Family Music Week.
In addition, Feather River has provided longtime support services for Camp It Up! — a week of camp for the LGBTQ community.
Duncan Moran, a 16-year-old Oakland Technical High School student, attended Camp It Up! for the first time last year.
“Coming to Camp It Up! alone, I was nervous, but within 24 hours, I was welcomed into a new community of people my age I could call friends,” Moran said in a text. “Because of that, I even ended up asking my dad if I could stay longer than we had originally planned. It was easy and fun and in no time, my nervous feelings were gone.”
The nonprofit Camps in Common has a partnership with Oakland’s Parks, Recreation, & Youth Development Department. Last year, it provided more than 300 youth campers from Oakland an overnight camp experience. Camps in Common also gave out more than $68,000 in scholarships to more than 400 Oakland youth in 2019, according to Olson.
Stephanie McFadden, a camp board member, said she was saddened by the decision to cancel the camp this year. “As a longtime camper, I was heartbroken that my family and friends were not going to be able to spend a week in the woods — away from technology, in nature, with our community of close friends,” she said. “And as a board member, the thought of the Oakland kids who were looking forward to a week in nature and away from the city was even more devastating. Camp is a huge part of our lives, and we will miss it terribly this summer.”
Olson said that Feather River has faced major challenges before. In the early 2000s, when Oakland ran the camp, there was an effort to shut it down because of the city’s budget woes. That’s when a group of city employees, volunteers and community members formed Camps in Common in 2003 to continue operating the camp.
And in August 2017, a wildfire forced the evacuation of the camp. No one was injured, and no facilities were burned.
But now, the camp faces its biggest challenge. Olson said Feather River, which had a budget of about $937,000 for 2020, needs to raise at least $250,000 this year to cover its expenses and continue to next year. He noted that nearly 90 percent of its revenue comes from program fees, and said the camp’s reserve funds are now depleted because of refunds.
The nonprofit has begun fundraising, reaching out to former and present campers and others, including the city of Oakland. For more information about donating to Feather River Camp, go to www.featherrivercamp.com or contact Mark Olson at mark@featherrivercamp.com or 510-336-2267.
“While we need substantial financial support, we are not only optimistic, we are committed to surviving this crisis to 2021 and beyond,” he said. “We believe OFRC is too important to not survive this period of uncertainty and challenge.”
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Author: Jon Kawamoto