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Lohana camp headed back to a familiar site this year –
Blue Springs Scout Reserve in Acton for another extremely successful
weekend away from home! The full report from the Head Counsellor will
be available in the next edition of the Lohana Newsletter.
Once again, the young Lohanas rose to every challenge as
we had our highest number ever of youth who wanted to volunteer their
weekend to be counsellors at this camp. Thank you to all of our
counsellors who made this weekend as special as it was. We would like
to extend a special thank you to Hamel Khakhria who took on the
challenge as head counsellor this year and did a wonderful job making
sure the weekend ran smoothly, even though he didn’t get much sleep all
weekend! A very special thanks also to Sejal Thakrar, Meesha
Tanna & Hasheel Lodhia who went above and beyond
counsellor duties by helping to organize a number of the events at
camp.
We
would like to thank the community for showing continued support for
this event. We believe that it is imperative that we keep the Lohana
youth together, and this event has proven to be successful when it
comes to creating lifelong friendships. We were able to fill map all of
our spaces for camp this year and we hope to move to a larger site next
year, and fill that one too! Start spreading the word...
Most
importantly, we would like to thank our parent volunteers, many of whom
took unpaid time off work to ensure that they could be there to work
right through the weekend. Without these generous individuals, there is
absolutely no way this camp could operate and we want to wish them a
very heartfelt thank you. This year we were graced returning volunteers
and were happy to introduce volunteers to the camp for the first time.
Bhavna
Radia & Prasanna Tanna –The founders of Lohana camp have
so much to be proud of. Without their immense expertise, we would have
had many more headaches to deal with! Bhavna Auntie took care of every
loose end, making sure nothing was overlooked. Most importantly, she
spearheaded all the work in the kitchen and ensured that every meal was
finger licking good! And, though Prasanna Auntie was unable to join us
for the weekend, her touch is always distinctly noticed at the camp and
we want to thank her for all the help she offered in preparation for
this.
Dipak
Dhrona – Every
year Dipak uncle is as excited to teach Lohana kids new games and
sports all while working hard in every other way in the background. The
kids continue to say that the “Indian Olympics” are their favourite
part of the weekend and Dipak Uncle has everything to do with that.
Shilla Khakhria –took charge
of a number of events at camp this year and her touch was unmistakable.
She was always excited and energetic and all of the kids benefitted
from it.
Chandra
& Rekha Lakhani – Most kids want to get away from
their parents for a weekend at camp, but it was a joy to have mine
around. They worked hard all weekend from cooking to cleaning to
decorating. I should also mention that they chose to spend their 33rd
wedding anniversary at...that’s right...Camp Lohana! Anybody interested
for next year?!
Lekha & Himanshu Lukka – Lekha
Auntie is a specialist with the younger children at the Lohana Camp.
She helped to teach them the significance of a number of Hindu wedding
rituals in a fun and exciting way. The kids always felt comfortable
when she was around. Himanshu Uncle took charge of some of our most
important situations and we thank him for that deeply.
Anup
Ruparelia & Poonam Jain – got creative and designed one of
a kind mocktails for the kids. These were a huge hit as they all came
back for seconds...and thirds....and you get the idea!
Beju
Lakhani –
had the important task of ensuring that a roll call was taken every 4 –
6 hours and ensuring that the kids were always on the camp site at all
times. He was also our resident driver making countless trips into
Acton to pick up anything and everything!
Sunit
Radia – sacrificed
a whole weekend of golfing to join us at camp and we truly thank him
for it! Sunit uncle’s knowhow and expertise when it comes to running
this camp are invaluable and it showed once again this year.
Rupa Kanani –joined us on
Friday and organized the camp’s opening ceremonies. She made a log
cabin look spectacular with all of her wonderful decorations and hard
work. Thank you for joining us Rupa Auntie.
Kamlesh & Priti Thakrar
– were able to join us on Saturday afternoon to help with the setup of
our big Saturday night bash! They also continued to do a wonderful job
in helping to organize the registration for the camp.
Kalpana & Narendra Chande –
graciously hosted all 25 of the camp counsellors at their house in June
for their training day. They were also able to make it to the campsite
on Saturday evening to help with the setup of our big outdoor
reception.
Camps
like this at an incredible value of only $100 per person cannot be
possible without incredible financial and other support from various
other Lohanas and their families.
Ramesh
Chotai & Kanti Raja – Donated our
entire catered dinner on Saturday night and ensured that all the kids
were able to have a wonderful Gujarati dinner!
The
Lakhani Brothers/Sapphire Banquet Hall
– for providing us with a spectacular meal at a very reasonable cost.
Thank you!
Punita Kotak - who drove
all the way up to Acton to provide free mehndi for ALL of our
campers/counsellors/adults. Her designs were immensely intricate and
beautiful and somehow it took her less than 1 minute per person! Highly
recommended for weddings!
Ronna
& Greg Cranker - Subway at Dundas and Glen
Erin in Mississauga. They couple gave us subs at minimal fraction of
the cost. They continue to support our camp through the genuine warmth
of their hearts.
Paul
Garofolo & Judy at Blue Springs
were extremely helpful to all our needs.
Lalit Kanabar in keeping the
books up-to-date and payments up-to-date on the camp.
Thank you to all of you for your amazing work at
camp. See you again next year! If we have forgotten anyone, please
accept our sincere apologies.
Bimal Lakhani & Samir Chande
Program Co-ordinators
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