Fall is a time for change, summer is fading into winter, the air is cooling and many plants become dormant. And if Fall is a time for change, November is a time to give thanks. We would like to thank the TLC Family of Camp members for its continued support in our endeavors to give back to our various camp communities.

This past summer our camp community came together and swam close to 7,000 laps, 6,872 to be exact, in one afternoon, for our annual Morry’s Camp Swim-A-Thon. Our swim-a-thon helps provide a fabulous summer camp experience for children who would not otherwise be able to attend a camp like Timber Lake West. It is your support that makes this event so successful for us. Thank you!

Our first Annual TLC Family Fall Festival was a raging success! Families from our three day camps: Hampton Country Day Camp, North Shore Day Camp, Southampton Club and Camp and our three sleep-away camps: Timber Lake Camp, Timber Lake West and Tyler Hill, along with our North Shore Day School families enjoyed a great day of rides, face painting, magic, a bar-b-que lunch, hayrides and a pick your own pumpkin patch. As part of this event we had a charitable component, in keeping with our STARFISH Values Program, the TLC Family of Camps donated $25 per family that registered for the event to one of these three charities: Autism Speaks, Crohns and Colitis or SCOPE, of the family’s choosing. We had 266 families select a charity and our TLC Foundation donated almost $7,000 on their behalf. Thank you!

It is exciting to be able to build upon our existing relationships and give back to the local community. Our organization has been working with three food pantries, the East Northport Food Pantry, Human Resources of the Hamptons and the East Hampton Food Pantry.

Every December, the TLC Family of Camps in conjunction with our Day School hosts a holiday drive. Most recently we have worked to collect a large variety of items for the East Northport Food Pantry who feed over 150 families a week. This all volunteer organization has no overhead and everything that comes into the pantry, is given back to those in families in need.

Southampton Club and Camp’s Gives Back Community Service Initiative was a summer food drive to the Human Resources of the Hamptons which operates one of the largest food distribution program on eastern Long Island with over 350 families enrolled.

For the past five summers, as part of Hampton Country Day Camp’s Helping Hands Community Service Initiative, HCDC families donated an unbelievable number of items to the East Hampton Food Pantry in their annual Food Drive.  This winter HCDC is providing a temporary, off-season “home-base” to the Food Pantry which delivers food to 300-400 families weekly in the winter!  Check out the Newsday article for more information!

From the TLC Family of Camps, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season and thank you for all of your support. May the warm memories of camp keep you smiling throughout the winter months.