It's not entirely certain what the summer will look like at Camp Squamish, but preparations on the Easter Seals site will continue in hopes it can open for the first time since 2017.
Easter Seals board member and Squamish Lions Club secretary Sharon Hansen said work parties to revitalize the site will start up again this month.
Last year, Lions Club members from Deep Cove up to Pemberton flocked to Squamish to provide assistance to get the camp, which supports youth and adults with disabilities, in ship shape.
"People have come out in full force," she said. "The support was overwhelming — and people didn't just come once. They wanted to know when the next one was because they couldn't get back fast enough."
Hansen said people from all walks of life came up to help out with the work.
"Sometimes you see someone that is normally in a three-piece suit and you think, 'Oh, we'll never see this person again,'" she said, "but he was crawling around under one of the buildings trying to figure out the stability of it.
"It was just so touching. I'm so moved by all this."
Heading into the spring, there is still some work to be done on the nine structures, such as painting and removing cobwebs.
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Hansen added that those with special tools or pieces of equipment are encouraged to bring them along, noting one man brought a lift and cleaned out the gutters last year.
"Any type of equipment people have — power washers or anything like that — they're more than welcome to jump in and help," she said. "
Declining revenue forced Camp Squamish to shutter for the summers of 2018 and 2019, but things were on track to open in 2020 before the pandemic hit, Easter Seals BC and Yukon president and CEO Lisa Beck told The Chief last October.
"We did have the funding earmarked to operate this past summer, but unfortunately, with the health order shutting down camps, we weren't permitted to run it," she said at the time.
Hansen is hopeful that the health orders will allow for some level of operation this summer.
The camp will also host its second shredding fundraiser onsite on April 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The minimum charge is $10 per banker's box.
Hansen credited the community for making the first event, held last October, a success, as it netted more than $3,500 once the truck's cost was covered. Each truck holds between 375 and 400 boxes and it was nearly full last time.
"People were coming in with tons of shredding," she said. "Some people even drove in with donations and no shredding."
Hansen recalled that one woman would order a truck to come up for her own shredding and appreciated the chance to take it to a central site.
"She thought it was a steal of a deal," Hansen said.
For more information go to the Sea to Sky Easter Seals website.
