LEWISBURG, Pa. — Some kids are having a great time at summer camp at the Donald Heiter Community Center near Lewisburg on Monday. Just a few days ago, this was almost not the case.
"The funding just kept getting shorter and shorter, so our budget just kept getting hit harder and harder," Andrea Tufo said.
The Donald Heiter Community Center has held a summer camp for about 25 years, typically hosting around 60 kids. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the center saw a major decline in funding.
Executive Director Andrea Tufo says in order to keep the camp running, the center needed to raise $47,000. The center's board of directors met last Thursday and, as a last resort, canceled the rest of summer camp.
"Our families, they can't go to work if their kids aren't here," Tufo said.
Thursday evening, Tufo made a Facebook post letting people know summer camp was canceled.
When Tufo made that post on social media, she had no idea what would happen next. More than 50 people reached out to Tufo and wanted to help.
"The Degenstein Foundation reached out, and they covered the entire $47,000 deficit in our budget. We had a local medical group reach out and cover all of the equipment that we needed. And the United Way reached out and covered all of our supplies," Tufo said.
In a matter of hours, the summer camp was back on.
"Thursday night, I cried because it was gone, and Friday, I cried because it was back. It just proves the good in the community. A lot of people look at Facebook as being a terrible thing, but in this case, it saved our camp," Tufo said.
Campers, their families and staff are happy for the community support.