The health, safety and comfort of our campers and staff is our number one priority at Camps Equinunk & Blue Ridge. From our tremendous food service to our experienced health center team — we have created an environment for all campers to thrive in. Simply, it’s what we do.
As parents, you know your child better than anyone; which is why the partnership we create as you join our summer family is so incredibly important. Our year-round directors along with our professional summer staff are ready to meet the individual needs of our campers and families. Our nurses and doctors are kind, sensitive and nurturing, they understand the value and necessity of extra TLC when children are not feeling well and away from home.
SERVING ONLY NUT-FREE FOOD AND SNACKS
Directors Message
As camp owners and directors, we truly understand the incredible leap of faith you take as parents entrusting us with your most precious loved one during the summer months. It is an enormous responsibility and one that we do not take lightly. The team at Camps Equinunk and Blue Ridge have worked incredibly hard over the years to continue developing a safe and nurturing environment for all campers and staff. With this promise, comes the commitment to creating and maintaining a safe culinary environment for our campers and staff.
Through strong partnerships with parents, nutritionists, guidance from national organizations, alongside our on-site medical and culinary staff, Camps Equinunk & Blue Ridge have developed a tremendously successful system that allows those with severe food allergies to thrive over the summer months and parents to be assured that their children are receiving the best possible care.
We would love for you to become more familiar with the plan that we have set forth and the individuals who make it so incredibly successful. We hope that this provides some additional insight into the inner workings of CECBR. We are happy to answer any questions, comments, or concerns that you may have along the way.
Warm Regards,
Sheryl, Richie & Adam
Food Screening and Preparation
The Food Service Director has long standing relationships with our food and beverage providers who are well versed in CECBR’s needs of maintaining nut free practices. Each item ordered is hand selected to ensure it does not contain traces of nuts, made in a factory with, or handled in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, sesame or coconut.
Upon delivery to camp, ingredient lists of all items are once again examined to ensure all incoming items meet our strict standards, Additionally, as items are received in the camp’s respective kitchens, our Asst. Chefs once again read through each ingredient and package label to identify any additional allergens that may effect campers with non-nut allergies such as gluten, sesame, dairy, egg, and soy.
All food that is prepared, served, and provided for by CE/CBR for all campers and staff is nut-free, tree nut, sesame and coconut free.
As We See It
We have the utmost confidence in our system but as we see it, we could not simply develop such an elaborate plan without exploring the few occasions when campers would be exposed to situations that are more difficult to manage.
These include the bus rides to camp, inter-camp games, trips and visiting day. In all literature sent to parents prior to bus departure and visiting day, we clearly state the parents may not pack nor bring to camp any items contacting peanuts, tree nuts, or processed in a factory that handles nuts. However, as many of these parents do not keep a nut free environment, they are not as experienced in reading labels for different allergens On visiting day or leadership staff carefully examines the food that has been brought to camp to remove any inappropriate food.
When leaving camp for any trips or intercamp games, we provide all meals and snacks for our campers to ensure proper food safety. However, often the camp or venue we travel to is not nut-free and therefore an allergen exposure exists. We always travel with all camper emergency medications and contact information in the event of an exposure or emergency. It is important we identify these areas and share with you the precautions taken, because ultimately, it is crucial we are on the same pages and you have the utmost confidence in our procedures.
Health Center
Our newly constructed Health Centers on both our Equinunk and Blue Ridge campuses feature state of the art treatment rooms, six semi-private air-conditioned camper rooms with entertainment systems, in-residence nurse quarters, along with quiet and private open-air porches.
CECBR has a team of six to eight in-camp nurses along with a doctor who is onsite 24/7
While our Health Center facilities are a comfortable setting for campers while they rest and recover, it is our exceptional medical personnel who will ensure our campers and staff receive excellent care while communicating their progress with parents back home.
Campers may visit the Health Center throughout the day and the doctor will be notified if needed, as they are always on campus. Additionally, our camp physician has set hours each day when he or she will be at the Health Center to evaluate any campers or staff who would like to be seen. More often than not, it is the careful attention of a counselor or Group Head who will identify a camper that may not be well and bring him or her to be seen by our medical team.
Nutrition
The dining experience at Camps Equinunk & Blue Ridge has been designed to serve well-balanced nutritious meals while keeping in mind the individual needs and interests of our campers and families.
From our food service manager to our directors, group heads, and counselors
Our food is prepped using fresh ingredients creating nutritious meals, which campers need for our action-packed CE/CBR days!
Both dining halls have dedicated staff members to work with campers with specific dietary requirements. We serve Family Style at CECBR, with our professional waiter and waitress service. Campers eat by bunk with their counselors.
Throughout the day campers enjoy delicious treats. Every afternoon following Rest Hour we open “Snack Bar” for refreshing fruit, juice, ices or ice cream. “Milk Bar” opens later in the evening for milk and cookies before bedtime. During the week, our campers will also have “Snack & Go” setup around campus where they can grab a piece of fresh fruit or smoothie between activities.