Hi, I’m TJ Kuhn and I work at camp in the maintenance department, along with overseeing the Camp B&H Creative Construction (CC) program. CC is a burgeoning summer camp specialty interest group that began in the summer of 2016 and has become increasingly popular among campers who want to gain some real-world skills and leave their mark at camp.

The goal of the group is twofold:

1. To provide campers with a chance to develop skills in woodworking, construction, and proper, safe use of basic tools; and
2. To work on fun, sustainably built, lasting projects for the camp property that will benefit B&H and its visitors long into the future.

Campers who sign up for CC meet at the barn workshop on Burgess Farm every morning for a weeklong session, where they work with myself and a small team of counselors toward the objective of completing a project for camp. We start with safety procedures and move on to basic techniques for handling tools. Then we spend the rest of the week working as a team to build skills as well as a final product that the kids can be proud of. Some of the highlights from last summer include an outdoor paint cabinet for our workshop, a concrete park bench for the Hayward waterfront, an onsite produce processing table for Burgess Farm, and a cat tower for our beloved farm cats.

In 2018, we are eager to expand our capabilities and the scale of our projects, and we could use some help doing so. In order to grow our program and simultaneously uphold the goal of sustainable building practices, we are seeking donations of woodshop tools of all kinds, especially hand tools and workbench tools.

Making a donation of old/obsolete/seldom-used tools to the CC program is a gesture that goes a long way. Not only will donations help to broaden the possibilities of CC projects, but also to get more tools in the hands of kids who want to learn! In the current atmosphere of plummeting availability of skilled tradespeople in the job market, now is the time to encourage young people to use their hands for something other than texting.

If you are interested in donating please bring your donation to Volunteer Day this Saturday, May 12th, or contact us at camp@ssymca.org to make alternate arrangements.

Thanks for your consideration!

TJ Kuhn, Assistant Maintenance Director