Do the Hard Things: A Perspective on 2020 from Damariscotta Lake
This summer has been unlike any other since Dick Kennedy hired me as a Camp Kieve counselor in the spring of 1983. With no summer camps, we had to re-imagine ourselves and find new ways to fulfill our mission of empowering others this year. This started locally in March when we volunteered our Kieve campus to be the hub of the Lincoln County Food Initiative. We continue to prepare, package, and transport 1,500 meals per week to our neighbors in need, and we will continue to do so at least until April 2021. We hope that the LCFI continues beyond April through the generosity of the KWE network that will enable us to continue our support.
We’ve also redesigned The Leadership School this school year, hiring 19 driven educators who gave up their August to quarantine, get Covid tested, and then dove into a 125-hour, 10-day intensive training. Those educators began serving 17 Maine schools after Labor Day and will teach their students for 30 weeks as opposed to the 10-week placements in years past. Our social-emotional learning experts are invaluable resources for their schools and are fostering connections between kids that have been absent since the Coronavirus.
Hopefully you got to read our community-wide letter in June, and the action steps announced in July highlighting how KWE will approach diversity, equity, and inclusivity going forward. Our DEI Task Force will hold us accountable to our plan, and our commitment to self-improvement and history of mobilizing to support any community in need will ensure we do this work well and are better for it.
Read the full newsletter by clicking the link below.
Kieve Wavus News Fall 2020 Vol. 94 No. 2