Damaged water tank forces UniCamp to cancel first session
By Erin Donnelly
June 5, 2014 1:17 a.m.
UniCamp, UCLA’s official student charity, canceled its first week of camp and may have more camp closures this summer because of $36,550 worth of damage to the site’s water tank.
UniCamp recruits hundreds of UCLA student volunteers each year to run a summer camp in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Camp leaders discovered a leak in the site’s water tank after inspecting the area last month.
Last week, UniCamp officials sent out an email asking for help financing the repair. Since then, UniCamp has received about $30,000 in donations and pledges, according to the UniCamp website.
Repairs will begin Thursday and will continue into the camp’s first session that was originally scheduled, said Jason Liou, the camp’s associate executive director. The change will have little impact on the campers because an extra week of camp was scheduled for July 20-27, Liou said.
Currently, UniCamp is pulling from funds used to finance the camp sessions to pay the remaining cost of the repairs. If more funds are not raised, more sessions could possibly be canceled, though officials said they are hopeful this won’t happen.
UCLA students sign up to participate in UniCamp for one week over summer and train throughout spring quarter to prepare for the session. The student volunteers who signed up for the canceled session will be assigned to the week in July or other sessions throughout the summer, but many who already solidified their summer plans won’t be able to participate.
Each volunteer must raise $425 to participate in a camp session. Officials said they will allow volunteers to hold the funds they’ve raised and count them toward next year’s camp fundraising efforts. If individuals want to be refunded for their donations, they can email or send a letter to the UniCamp office.
