Through my time at Camp Mini-Yo-We I have loved working behind the scenes doing my small part to make Camp tick. Back when I joined Camp in 2007, that meant waking up early to clean the lodge before parents arrived or picking up garbage on my walk over to Sunday chapel. During Spring Crew it was often larger projects like building a set of stairs, redesigning the website or organizing and repairing staff radios. While I enjoyed the silly songs, wide games and mealtime dance-offs, I came alive doing things in the background that removed distractions and allowed programs to run smoothly.
Now in my role as Operations Director I love connecting young people with the various opportunities to serve behind the scenes each year. As Camp continues to grow, we have expanded our team and introduced new roles to encourage leaders with a wide range of skills and abilities to serve at Camp.
What is the Operations Team?
When we think about summer camp, our mind is immediately drawn to the cabin leaders, activity leaders and program staff that interact directly with campers. In many ways the Operations Team is the opposite side of the same coin.
There are five distinct teams with positions available in both spring and summer:
- Food Service Team // These young adults serve as Dietary Specialists for our campers and guests who have food allergies and dietary restrictions. Typically these are students in food management or nutrition programs or individuals who are passionate about cooking and developing these skills while at Camp.
- Facility Team // This team is responsible for housekeeping, groundskeeping and various projects that keep the facility running smoothly and looking great. These team members work hard, are self-starters, and enjoy working alongside the adult volunteers on our facility team.
- Administrative Team // We hire team members both as Office Assistants and as Camp Store Team Members. These are students with a pleasant demeanor, a knack for organization and a happiness to serve our community on the front line.
- Promotion Team // This group of creatives helps connect parents with what is going on at Camp in the summer. The work includes photography, videography, editing and helping manage our social media channels.
- Nursing Student // This opportunity is specifically for students in their second to final year of nursing school. They work alongside and support the adult volunteers on our medical team by helping administer first aid, distribute medication, and document patient treatment!
Linking Education & Ministry
Sometimes we hear from LITs or staff that have been with us for a summer that they are looking for positions at other organizations to gain practical, hands-on experience in their field of study. While Camp develops all kinds of soft skills in our leaders, one of the reasons I love the operations team is that the work these students do is often directly linked to their education or future career.
Here are a few examples from recent memory:
- Stephanie was studying Media & Communications at Redeemer University while using her photography skills on the Promotion Team in Summer 2017. Shortly after she took those media skills to the mission field in Nicaragua’s capital.
- While studying to get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Queen’s University, Sarah served as our Nursing Student in Summer 2022. This new role helped provide consistency for our adult volunteers who change each week and provided practical experience in administering and documenting care as well.
- Robyn and Tanvir came to us through the Food & Nutrition Studies program at Georgian College. Their roles as Dietary Specialists meant our campers had tasty food all summer long despite various restrictions and allergies.
We also let team members explore their passions in a safe and friendly environment. Dozens of students have joined the Promotion Team not because they are studying media and communications, but because they have a passion and knack for photography. Camp provides an incredible backdrop for students looking to develop hard skills in any of these areas.
Do You Want to Join Our Team?
We have a number of operations positions left to fill for this summer! One of the unique things about these roles is that applicants often come to us from outside the Mini-Yo-We community and not through the traditional channels of past staff and LITs. If you are interested in joining our team, I would love to chat. You can contact me directly at spencer@miniyowe.com or 905-730-9329.
You can also learn more and express interest at www.campmyw.com/jobs.
If you are keen to learn more about a specific role, check out the job descriptions:
- Nursing Student Job Description
- Promotion Team Job Description
- Dietary Specialist Job Description
- Office Assistant Job Description
- Camp Store Team Job Description
- Facility Team Job Description
Can You Help Spread the Word?
If you are a friend of Mini-Yo-We, can I ask you a favour? Help us spread the word about these important roles for this summer!
Here are three easy ways to help connect us with young adults this summer:
- Share this blog post! It’s that easy. Just copy and paste the URL and send it off to a friend or family member you think might be a good fit.
- Distribute the job postings! We have designed easy-to-read 1-page PDF job postings for each operations position to help spread the word. This can be printed for a bulletin board, shared with a group of young adults or sent directly to someone you believe should apply.
- Make a personal connection! I’m always happy to jump on a call and talk about opportunities to serve at Camp. You can reach me at spencer@miniyowe.com or 905-730-9329.