Camp Jabberwocky
The Summer of 2023 ushered in Camp Jabberwocky's 70th season of providing a magical summer camp experience to campers! It was a summer of adventures and camp traditions, of new friends, old friends, trying new things, and sunny days spent at the beach. Throughout the summer, over 150 campers of all ages experienced the joys of the Island in a supportive environment that promotes mutual respect and fosters independence and self-determination. Over 160 volunteers helped to make all of this possible, including medical teams, cooks, direct care volunteers, session directors, community volunteers and more! Our campers and volunteers reflect diverse lived experiences making each camp session a truly inclusive and unique journey for all involved. Beyond our incredible team of volunteers, we are grateful for the collaboration with so many other nonprofits across the Island as our programming partners, helping us spread the mission and impact of Camp Jabberwocky even farther. As we look to next year, and we finish foam-insulating our sleepaway cabins, we plan to explore offering more overnight usage of the camp to Island nonprofits with shared values as a way to continue increasing the impact of our mission.
Camp Jabberwocky
CAMP JABBERWOCKY IS BACK! After several summers of limited “live” programming because of COVID, we had a nearly normal return to Camp activities in 2022. It was a summer of fun, friendships, beach-going, drumming, arts and crafts, dancing, goats, llamas, sailing, fishing, boating, ice cream, Sharks baseball, music, writing, bi-planes, archery, talent shows, picnics, cook-outs, and joy for our 140 campers, including 17 new campers! A small, early outbreak forced some last-minute re-shuffling (even vaccinated, our campers are uniquely vulnerable to COVID), but we were happy to welcome campers old and new. Our Jabberwebby virtual programs also continued for those who could not attend in person.
Because we were able to winterize more cabins during the pandemic, Family Camp was also back. We brought together 65 people in 19 families over two weekends in late August and September. Our waiting lists are long (664 for summer camp and 256 for Family Camp), so we were excited to be able to invite five new families this year.
Of the 150 volunteers who helped keep everyone safe and to make Camp magical, there were many new and aspiring health care professionals, including graduate students in nursing, speech, and language from Northeastern University, as well as our usual complement of new and returning high school and college students, under the guidance of Caitlin Lamb (granddaughter of founder Helen “Hellcat” Lamb) and Avis Olsen, our stellar camp program directors.
Camp Jabberwocky
Camp Jabberwocky was back for summer 2021! The pandemic has been a reminder of how hard it is to be isolated from friends and loved ones, especially for our campers with disabilities and their families. In typical Camp Jabberwocky fashion, this past summer, we were able to offer onsite programming safely and successfully as we embraced the joy of connecting with our old friends. We relished in the magic that camp brings to our lives, and we enjoyed every minute we had together after a lengthy almost two years apart. Summer 2021 was very different from the nearly seventy years of the camp's existence. To keep everyone safe, Jabberwocky ran at a lower capacity with shorter sessions, allowing everyone who wanted to participate the opportunity to do so. Somehow with these significant changes, camp was incredibly magical in ways not seen before. We enjoyed countless days with nowhere else to be but hanging out at the beach, swimming, and enjoying the sun. We were fond of the conversation, laughter, and deep connection around the table for long meals. We had many nights where we all gathered together on the screened-in porch to sing to the sound of the guitar around the fireplace. We planned a different kind of summer during COVID-19, worried it might not feel like the camp we know and love. Still, the lessons we learned in slowing down will impact us long into the future, refocusing us on the importance of connection and just being together. In the off-season, we continued our partnership with Island Grown Initiative in the off-season, providing our main cabin building and commercial kitchen. Their programs brought gleaned produce, food donated or purchased from local farms, and chefs and volunteers into the kitchen to create thousands of meals distributed through the food pantry and local social workers to food-insecure families and individuals on Martha’s Vineyard. IGI used the kitchen during all months when the camp was not in session.
Camp Jabberwocky
Camp Jabberwocky was gearing up to have two big developments in 2020: tuition-free summer camp for the first time in history and the expansion of programming into the year. Those two developments were delayed by the serious dangers COVID-19 placed on our community and the broader Vineyard community. Instead of running in-person programs, we moved our programming online, began a camp-wide phone buddy system, and sent out a total of 500 care packages to our community to keep everyone connected and decrease feelings of isolation and fear. Highlights were a virtual parade and partnering with Rick Bausman and MV Community Services to make weekly Drumming (Not) on the Beach broadcasts from our Main Cabin screen porch every Tuesday for the community to enjoy remotely. We did not want our main cabin building (the facility MVYouth helped complete) to go unused and we saw the great need for healthy and accessible food for our community, so we continued our partnership with Island Grown Initiative and worked with Slough Farm in the summer months to use our commercial kitchen. The programs brought gleaned produce, food donated or purchased from local farms, and a number of chefs and volunteers into the kitchen to create thousands of meals to be distributed through the Food Pantry and local social workers to food-insecure families and individuals on Martha's Vineyard. Between Slough Farm and IGI, we had an organization using our kitchen every month of 2020. Additionally, classes from the Vineyard Montessori School used Jabberwocky facilities through their 2019-2020 school year.
Camp Jabberwocky
In 2019, Camp Jabberwocky successfully ran its summer overnight camp sessions and Family Camp retreats for children and adults with disabilities from June through September, then opened its campus and Main Cabin to the Vineyard Montessori School, Island Grown Initiative, Vineyard Independence Project, and several other local organizations. The Montessori School has its upper school at Jabberwocky and hosted its fall play in the Main Cabin and VIP hosted archery lessons this fall. Highlight: Island Grown Initiative. IGI processed gleaned produce all fall in our kitchen, and now they are cooking soups there and distributing them through health care providers and social workers that visit new moms and families of all backgrounds. In November and December they have distributed 168 soups to Island Health Care, The Visiting Nurses Association, the Food Pantry and the social workers at the Hospital, with many of those soups going to food-insecure families with children. They are continuing this program through the winter, as well as preparing soups in the kitchen to serve for April school vacation week. IGI estimates about 250 meals will be served during April break. In 2020, Camp Jabberwocky is planning to launch its own community programs with collaboration from local organizations, including dinners, craft nights, and retreats such as writing or movement workshops for young adults throughout the year. In addition, IGI is meeting with the director of Big Brother Big Sister to organize a cooking class in January or February for their program at Camp Jabberwocky.
Camp Jabberwocky
PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT: Funds from MVYouth will enable Camp Jabberwocky to renovate, winterize and expand their Main Cabin, the heart of the Jabberwocky campus. The renovation will expand the capacity of the summer camp and enable year-round Island organizations to use the Main Cabin during the Camp’s off-season. Renovations to the Main Cabin are underway by South Mountain Co. The footprint of the old building has been expanded and redesigned to accommodate the various critical roles it plays for the organization - improving accessibility, safety, privacy and flow. The new design will include a commercial kitchen, an expanded dining hall for mealtimes and gatherings, male and female handicap-accessible bathrooms, a screened dining porch, small administrative offices and a nurse’s station.
For 65 years, Camp Jabberwocky, located near Lake Tashmoo in Vineyard Haven, has provided residential summer camps on Martha’s Vineyard for people with disabilities. Their mission is to “create an environment that promotes the fulfillment of human potential and fosters independence and self-determination while respecting diversity.” With a 1:1 camper to counselor ratio and shared residential spaces, the camp is well known for its inclusivity and successfully integrating their programs with hallmark Island summer events such as the 4th of July Parade and Agricultural Fair, while modeling for the Vineyard community a joyous respect for all. At present, Jabberwocky serves approximately 30 campers and counselors who are year-round residents of Martha’s Vineyard.
Once the renovation is complete, the organization plans to run more Island-centric programs in the shoulder seasons and open the space to Island organizations to expand their programming throughout the off-season. They believe in the power of “promoting Camp Jabberwocky’s ideals of volunteerism, inclusion, empowerment, and kindness” in the rising generation of Islanders.
Jabberwocky has formalized an arrangement with Island Grown Initiative (IGI) to use the space September-May to expand youth programs and access to healthy food for all Islanders. IGI estimates their expanded programming will reach 2,500 youth through: after-school programs that engage youth to process gleaned food for Islanders in need; providing free lunches to school children during December, February and April vacations; offering February and April vacation week camps; processing local, gleaned food for school meals and taste tests of local vegetables; and offering cooking classes to pregnant women. Jabberwocky expects that additional collaborations are likely to develop once the facility is usable this fall.