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Weekend Warriors event prepares Camp Alexo for new season

Jun 2, 2018 | 8:00 AM

An annual event where supporters of Camp Alexo near Nordegg can see first-hand the results of their investment, was held last weekend at the site.

The fifth annual Weekend Warriors event saw between 12 – 32 people come out and take part in activities such as building wood storage, insulating cabins, clearing deadfall, painting doors and skirting, splitting wood for campfires, digging propane services lines and other camp preparation tasks.

Janessa McCormack, Volunteer Resources Coordinator with Youth HQ in Red Deer says the amount of support they get for the event each year is phenomenal.

“We have so many volunteers that come out from different organizations and it really is helping get the camp ready and sharing in that wonderful experience of Camp Alexo,” says McCormack. “We had some folks from Rotary and from Kiwanis out. They built a new area for our archery range and just making that camp special for kids and our community.”

“Basically we are there every summer and we’ve started some winter camps as well for youth in our communities,” adds McCormack. “We have about 450-475 youth that come out and enjoy camp every summer. Over the last few years we’ve had new cabins built, picnic shelters and cook houses and all sorts of opportunities.”

She says they essentially have camps that run for youth between the ages of 7 – 17, with community groups that also come out and support the organization with camps of their own as well.

McCormack says many of their weekend warriors are made up of past campers and members of community groups such as Rotary and Kiwanis.

“We have some long-time volunteers that come out every year,” adds McCormack. “There’s a key group of people who book it into their calendar to make sure that they’re able to come out on the Weekend Warrior weekend. People bring big equipment to get the job done, donating not only their time but their equipment to making camp what it is.”

Despite the help, McCormack does point out that they’re always looking for volunteers and sponsors or donors to ensure Camp Alexo remains viable well into the future.

“We look after feeding everybody, finding the work and they put a lot of sweat equity into that place,” explains McCormack. “It’s so exciting for all the kids to see the new things and the improvements that are made just on this weekend. When you consider people are putting in 8-16 hours and you have that many people doing that much work, we couldn’t ask for anything more from our volunteers.”