For the 51st consecutive year, Camp Jorn YMCA’s annual Pancake Day drew hundreds of supporters out for breakfast Sunday.
“It’s been a good flow,” Camp Jorn Executive Director Pat Murphy said as tables filled, emptied and filled again at the Bonnie Brook Golf Course in Waukegan.
While funds from the breakfast help go toward the overall operations of the Northern Wisconsin camp, its larger purpose is to raise awareness of the 2015 Strong Kids Campaign. The goal is to raise $135,000, a figure Murphy said would help over 100 kids between ages 8 and 16 attend Camp Jorn this summer for one-, two- or three-week stays.
“We get a lot of local community support,” said Larry Kilpatrick, chair of the Camp Jorn YMCA Board of Directors.
Kilpatrick said supporters range from local businesses to residents who attended Camp Jorn and now want to help their children and grandchildren do the same.
While Camp Jorn was initially a program of the Lake County YMCA, it is now an independent YMCA facility and serves children of the Greater Chicago area as well as Lake County.
Camp Jorn promotes youth development, healthy living and social responsibility among its campers, and provides a chance for kids to get away from today’s busy world and experience relaxation, nature and companionship, according to organizers.
An alumnus of the camp at age 10, Cade Tanneberger of Lindenhurst extolled the virtues of the Camp Jorn and the pancake breakfast after eating on Sunday morning.
“The pancakes are really good,” he said. “And I enjoy the people here from the YMCA. (Camp Jorn) is really a nice place to vacation. Its quiet and you don’t have to have all the rushing around. You can sit back and relax.”
People tend to become attached to the camp and pass that affection on to their children.
Amber Salinas of Zion was at the breakfast Sunday with her two-year-old daughter Nashlynn, whom she said was named after Nash Lodge at Camp Jorn.
Salinas said she and her husband were married at Camp Jorn.
“I’ve been going there more than 20 years,” she said. “I do local bus coordination (for the camp) now.”
Camp Jorn was established more than 60 years ago, replacing the former Camp Thunderhawk and turning it into a haven for local children.
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For more information on Camp Jorn and the strong kids campaign, call 715-543-8808 or visit http://www.campjornymca.org.
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