Giving News

The minute a camper arrives at Special Friends Day Camp, they are celebrated — the way we all wish we were — with unabashed enthusiasm and acceptance. Lines of campers and “buddies” form on either side and cheer the arrival of every camper. Every day starts off with a celebration. Summer can’t come soon enough for these Special Friends day campers. Special Friends Day Camp is for special needs adults ages 15 and up. Our campers never age out of ...

The year was 1997 and a brand new event opened for the first time at Warm Beach Camp — The Lights of Christmas. As December arrived, no one quite knew what to expect. The Camp had never done an event like this before. Would anyone come? The idea of a Christmas event at Warm Beach Camp was brand new to people. What was this “lights thing” that the Camp was doing? Boasting a half-million lights and open just 12 nights, ...

By Jenny Howell It was three weeks ago that our family of seven arrived at Warm Beach Camp. With our future ministry unknown as we search for God’s direction, we have found a place of refuge, purpose, and encouragement. Our hearts are filled to the brim with a place to live, community who understands our pastoral season of transition, and an opportunity to serve the Camp and staff. Only God orchestrates this kind of goodness. The seasons when we feel ...

During The Lights of Christmas, which opens December 1st, more than 100 volunteers are needed each of the 19 nights the event is open. We especially need more volunteers for the nights of December 20 through 23 and 26 through 28. It takes people serving as parking attendants, costumed characters, greeters, ticket sellers, toy shop “elves,” hosts, security help, and more. The volunteers provide the smiles and warm hospitality that the event is best known for. Plus, the volunteers get ...

Little did Aidan Espinosa, age 15, realize that his life was about to change when he stepped into the Special Friends volunteer training session this past summer to help with the camps for adults with special needs. Originally, Aidan had signed on in order to fulfill his volunteer hours requirement for high school graduation. In the process of becoming a buddy for a Special Friends camper, he not only found a safe place to belong himself, but his world perspective ...

The 17th annual Kids 2 Camp Benefit Auction was held on Saturday, August 27. The bidding was brisk with more than 300 items going to the highest bidders. When the dust settled, more than $141,000 was raised for the Kids 2 Camp Fund! By the end of this year, we are projecting that over $202,000 will have been given out in scholarships, helping bring more than 1,700 campers to Warm Beach Camo. We are committed to not turning any child ...

This year, The Lights of Christmas is celebrating its 20th year! There will be lots of celebration and plenty of fun. While the event doesn’t open till December 1st, the crew that hangs all those lights is already hard at work. It takes about three months to get the Christmas lights in place! An event like this doesn’t just happen by itself. It takes lots of planning and a lot of help to make it all come together! During October ...

Saturday, August 27, 2016 The seventeenth annual Kids 2 Camp Benefit Auction is just a few weeks away! This fun and important event raises funds for the Kids 2 Camp Scholarship Fund, helping make it possible for kids to go to camp. Last year, the auction raised more than $111,000! This year, you will find some incredible items in the auctions, including lots of great gift items, some real “finds,” and even some nice get-away experiences. There’s something for everyone ...

Volunteerism has been an important part of Warm Beach Camp since its inception. In the early years, there was only one paid staff couple. The kitchen, program and hospitality staff were comprised solely of volunteers. Many of the original buildings were constructed using mostly volunteer labor. As WBC has grown, so has its volunteer family. There has been a slow but steady increase in participation from 30,150 hours in 2008 to 50,916 hours in 2015. Today’s volunteers participate in nearly ...

August 27, 2016 Warm Beach Camp helped more than 1,600 campers attend camp last year who would otherwise have been left out. This is possible only because of the generous financial help from many people. This year, the Camp is offering a new way to come alongside and help raise funds for Kids 2 Camp. It is the Kids 2 Camp Benefit Run scheduled for August 27 at WBC. The Benefit Run Schedule: 7:00 am - Packet pick-up7:30 am - ...

The Partners in Ministry Annual Appreciation Event There is just a little time left to make your reservations to attend the Partners in Ministry Dinner. Please give us the opportunity to say thank you, to share what we’ve done with your investments of time and money, and to take a look at where God is leading us. Be our guests on Saturday, May 7, at 6 pm in the Camp’s Program Center Auditorium for a delicious supper, and special music by ...

In 1973, a strapping young Military welder met a “cute little sailor” who was a secretary in the Security Department at the Whidbey Island Naval base. Danny and Nellie Buckland got married in the chapel on the base, and the rest is history. The couple recently celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary. Upon retiring both Danny and Nellie agreed that they would prefer to serve the Lord over spending their time doing as they pleased. The couple agreed that they would ...

Judy Lang pulled into Warm Beach Camp (WBC) last December to be a volunteer at The Lights of Christmas, but her journey to becoming a Camp volunteer started many years ago when she first attended Warm Beach Camp as a Seattle Pacific University (SPU) student. After graduating from SPU, Judy went on to work with refugees, migrants and international college students, teaching English as a Second Language for academic purposes. In 2006, Judy pursued a Masters of Divinity degree at ...

Our gift to you! We invite you to join us in a time of appreciation as we honor you, our donors and volunteers, for the important role you play in keeping this ministry strong and growing. Please give us the opportunity to say thank you, to share what we’ve done with your investments of time and money, and to take a look at where God is leading us. Please join us as our guests on Saturday, May 7, at 6 ...

This past December, the President of the United States signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act. Among the twenty-two permanent tax breaks included in this landmark legislation was language that made IRA Charitable Rollovers retroactive for the 2015 tax year and permanent for 2016 and beyond. An IRA Charitable rollover enables individuals, age 70½, who face mandatory required minimum distributions, to contribute up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA (or a Roth IRA in certain ...

There is lots of activity going on around the grounds at Warm Beach Camp as we get everything ready for The Lights of Christmas that opens on December 3 for the 2015 season. It takes lots of people to get everything put together for The Lights. Why do we make all this effort for an event that lasts just 19 nights? It is because this event touches a lot of people. This lavish celebration of the amazing love that God ...

Over the past five years, the Warm Beach Foundation has helped more than 300 families create power of attorney and medical directive documents, wills, trusts and other estate plans, and gain peace of mind. Warm Beach Camp is pleased to announce the Foundation has a new Director, Scott Rossiter. Scott has a long history with the Camp, starting in 1989 as a summer staff worker while in college. In 2005, he joined the Camp staff, working full-time in Guest Services. Four ...

...at Warm Beach Camp! It takes between 120 and 160 volunteers each night to put on The Lights of Christmas, about 2,750 spots to fill in total! Last year The Lights of Christmas volunteers contributed over 10,000 hours of volunteer service. With The Lights of Christmas fast approaching, we are looking for volunteers, especially in Parking and as Fireside Greeters, among a long list of other jobs. Often, there is a challenge filling spots the week before Christmas and the ...

The Lights of Christmas opens this year on December 3rd, but the crew that hangs all those lights is already hard at work. It takes about three months to get the Christmas lights in place! An event like this doesn’t just happen by itself. It takes lots of planning and a lot of help to make it all come together! During October and November, all the effort is in the preparations. Decorations will be cleaned up and painted. Light displays ...

After a summer of warm, dry weather in Western Washington, it didn’t seem fair that a sudden change brought rain and gusty winds to Warm Beach Camp on August 29, the day of the Camp’s annual Kids 2 Camp Benefit Auction. Despite the weather, a crowd of people showed up for the event, and at the end of the day, the auction raised $111,900 for the Kids 2 Camp Scholarship fund, the most ever raised from the auction! This will ...