Vashon’s Camp Burton, a storied spot that has welcomed campers for more than 100 years and also served as an idyllic venue for retreats, conferences, community celebrations and other events, is now asking for support, following three years of severe disruption of its operations by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A GoFundMe appeal, posted in January, aims to raise $50,000 to sustain the operations of the camp — an amount that will be matched by an anonymous donor, said the camp’s executive director, Michele Rutschow.
The total $100,000 in hoped-for proceeds from the fundraiser will save the camp from closing, enabling it to regain its financial footing as summer beckons larger groups back to the campgrounds, she said.
Rutschow, in an interview in the camp’s cozy office last week, detailed the financial travails of the camp since March 2020.
“The business of the camp is to have people gather,” she said, adding that many of the camp’s renters had not been comfortable doing that until last fall.
When those renters have come back, she said, they have done so in much smaller numbers.
“Groups that were 100 people are now 50,” she said.
During the pandemic, she said, the camp depleted its reserve fund of about $300,000 and has lately survived on $200,000 in no-interest loans from the camp’s owner, the Washington Baptist Convention.
Still, she said, the camp is self-supporting and must rely on income and rentals to survive and meet its $650,000 annual budget.
And right now — just as COVID has finally begun to retreat and campers are set to return in greater numbers this summer — the camp needs another infusion of cash to remain open.
What’s at stake is a 109-year-old tradition of joyous outdoor life on Vashon.
Camp Burton, an American Baptist Camp, was established in 1909, making it one of the oldest church-owned sites in Washington.
The facility, originally known as Burton Baptist Assembly Grounds, was at first a rustic place, that has, over the years, been upgraded to include a spacious and well-appointed lodge with sweeping views of Puget Sound.
Its grounds have been a haven for local groups including Burton Beach Rowing Club (see commentary by Eric Odegard, page 6) as well as larger organizations that present annual retreats and specialty sleepover camps.
The camp is the flagship site of Camp Good Times, for children with medical conditions, and also the home of Camp Parkview, a sleepover camp for adults who are developmentally disabled.
Camp Burton also presents its own faith-based camps, but these sessions provide only break-even income for the camp, because of their low cost, Rutschow said.
The faith-based camps also include week-long experiences for those who might not otherwise be able to attend camp, including developmentally and physically disabled children and teens — groups Rutschow said she always joyously looks forward to welcoming each year.
Unlike some other Christian camps that only offer rentals to other Christians, Rutschow said that Camp Burton’s philosophy is to share its space with many different types of groups serving both youth and adults, through rental and events.
Once, she said with a smile, the camp was even rented to a group that called itself “Egyptian Goddess Lineage.”
“If you have a blessed space,” she said, “why wouldn’t you want to open it up to others? We want to share what we have.”
In addition to inviting islanders to donate to Camp Burton’s GoFundMe appeal, Rutschow also urged islanders to tell others about their experiences at the camp and spread the word to organizations and other potential renters about the camp’s beauty and affordability.
The camp’s staff, she said, has also recently brought back its popular Monday Night Dinners fundraiser, which began during the early days of COVID — sumptuous full take-out meals, priced at $25 for one person or $40 for two.
To see current dinner menus and learn more about Camp Burton, visit the camp’s website. To donate, visit GoFundMe.
