WeHaKee World

As we prepare for the celebration of our 90th Anniversary of WeHaKee Camp for Girls in 2013, we have really enjoyed searching through our archives of photos from the past nine decades.   We recently came across pictures from the 60th Anniversary Celebration held at camp during the summer of 1983. The faces splashed across the photos are so fresh and excited, it is hard to believe these were taken nearly 30 years ago.   But the connections in the photos are still here today!

A WeHaKee girl is inspired to become a woman whose life embraces the values of Community, Compassion, Justice, Truth and Peace.  Although you will likely see our Mission placed before our Vision and Values, it is the Vision that sets the foundation for the Mission to be vital, meaningful and most importantly, intentional.   So much so that our five values relate directly to the building of positive and supportive relationships.  Let's explore that a bit further:

COMMUNITY: Relationships built on respect   A community brings to gether unique individuals with different perspectives and backgrounds.   At WeHaKee Camp for Girls, we build a community that embraces inclusivity, which can only occur if we learn to approach those different from us with respect and acceptance.

Hi Everyone ~ It's me Franky, the WeHaKee camp dog sharing with you on another wonderful Friday!   Did you know that a big part of making the WeHaKee experience great is making sure we keep everyone healthy and safe?   Yeh, it's hard to have a good time if you're feeling ill or just injured yourself.   Our camp nurses and doctors do a great job, not only checking everyone when they arrive and managing camper medications, they also keep an eye on the camp facility and operation looking for anything that might compromise our campers health or safety.  

Attracting and creating diversity in the camp setting has always been a challenging prospect.   There are a number of obstacles that come into play when trying to create a camp community that reflects the greater world our girls live in.   But for 90 years, WeHaKee Camp for Girls has been committed to providing the most diverse community it can through a variety of methods.   First of all, WeHaKee approaches diversity not only from the viewpoint of skin color or race, but also socio-economically, through faith & spirituality, developmentally, and geographically.

Founded in the tradition of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters, WeHaKee Camp for Girls is a place of fun and play where a girl's journey strengthens her relationship with God, self, others and nature.  In 2005, the WeHaKee Camp for Girls Board of Advisors gathered at Camp WeHaKee for a board retreat where they crafted the mission statement above.   It was a meaningful and at time intense discussion to assemble a statement that the members felt truly captured the essence of the WeHaKee experience.   Examining it further...

Hi Everyone ~ It's me Franky coming at you again on this lovely Friday!   Bob just got back from a day at camp earlier this week where he hung out with our fantastic property manager, Joe Kokan.   As many of you know, Joe is responsbile for keeping camp well maintained and looking great. And if you've been to WeHaKee Camp for Girls, you know how wonderful camp looks.   He works hard all year long and takes great pride in WeHaKee's appearance and how well it operates.

Every fall Bob and Joe complete an annual 'walk-through' of WeHaKee.   They look at each and every building ~ did you know that there are nearly 40 buildings on WeHaKee's property?!   At each building, they take a look around and have a conversation about any repairs or changes that should be done over the next few months to make sure the building is ready for next summer.   They also discuss if the building will need any major changes or repairs in the next few years (such as a new roof or windows or maybe adding a new storage space, etc.).   

With the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council earlier this week, it has been noted how this event in the Catholic Church's history provided a catalyst for the illumination of all the remarkable things that the women of the church had been doing, often beyond the eyes of the rest of the world.   So it is only natural that this brought to mind the progressive and visionary nature of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters throughout their history... well before 1963!  

Under the guidance and leadership of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, the Sisters were championing the education of girls and women as far back as the mid 1800's!   They founded Rosary College in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin in 1901 and at the time it was considered to have the most modern and cutting-edge science labs in the country.  By the way, Rosary College became Dominican University, a currently thriving university for women located just outside of Chicago in River Forest, Illinois.

Many organizations and businesses have a mission statement, but they are often nothing more than a sign hanging on a wall or stuffed inside an annual report.   WeHaKee Camp for Girls certainly has a their own mission statement, but it is embraced and well-worn as the focal point of all that we do. To further the it's effectiveness, we support the statement with a vision statement and set of stated values.   Every decision we make is filtered through our Mission, Vision and Values to determine its validity to the WeHaKee experience.   Over the course of the next few weeks we would like to share the details behind our Mission, Vision and Values to help our WeHaKee alumni, families, friends along with those of you you who simply wish to learn more about us.   This is what we are truly all about: