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On the merits of volunteering: Summers at Camp Manitou

Columnist Viki Mather says there’s a lot to be gained by giving of your time
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Viki Mather volunteers at Camp Manitou, on the North Channel of Lake Huron, every summer. Photo: Camp Manitou

For the past three years, the last week of August found me at Camp Manitou (http://manitoucamp.org/), cooking for the Family Camp 4. I do this as a volunteer. 

Everyone who works it Manitou volunteers their time. It is an amazing place to be. 

My job starts at seven each morning, when a couple of assistants and I create a yummy hot breakfast for 40 to 50 hungry campers. Many of the families have been coming to this camp for a couple of decades.

Parents of young children were young children themselves when they first came to Manitou. A few “new” families join the group each summer, and marvel at the beauty of the land, the easy friendships made, and the delightful food shared in the dining room. Breakfast is served at eight.

Right after breakfast, the kitchen crew prepares a table full of things for the campers to make themselves a picnic lunch. Most days we’ll be done in the kitchen by 10 … breakfast and lunch served, dishes done, kitchen cleaned. 

Then, it is our turn to go out to enjoy all that Manitou has to offer.  

I usually go for a walk in the woods, or a hike to Wright’s Lake. Maybe to the beach by the sauna, or to my little cabin by the shore for a nap. I might spend some time alone in the kitchen puttering about, planning and preparing for the meals to come. 

People are out canoeing, kayaking, swimming, climbing the LaCloche Mountains … it is a wonderful life at camp.

At 3 p.m., we are back in the kitchen. We chop veggies, bake desserts, prepare a big supper for the hungry campers, who gather at five to enjoy another meal together. On a good day, I am out of the kitchen by six, while new volunteers come in to wash all those pots and pans.

The week is eight days long … Saturday to Saturday. All that work and all that play, at the end of the week I am exhausted. As I eagerly boarded the boat last summer (did I mention there are no roads to Manitou?), I wondered, why do I do this? 

There must be more than a hundred of us who volunteer at Manitou every summer. Why do we all give our time, and our hearts? Surely this must be a labour of love.

For me, there is joy in figuring out how to pull it all together and do it well. It is gratifying to nourish people who are so grateful, people who enjoy eating good food. It is a puzzle, a dance. And like a jigsaw or crossword puzzle, there is an inner feeling of accomplishment when it is done.

Lots of times, giving is better than receiving … because it feeds our hearts. Volunteering is an easy way to give. Opportunities abound.

Viki Mather has been commenting for Northern Life on the natural world and life in Greater Sudbury since the spring of 1984. Got a question or idea for Viki? Send an email to [email protected].


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