March 16 Letter From the Camp Director
To our Sweeney Families,
As the days start to get warmer, Super Summer 2021 is finally on the horizon! At Camp Sweeney, we have been working nonstop to prepare Sweeney for the return of our campers. It has been a challenging 22 months without Sweeney, but the drought will soon be over. We cannot wait to bring back the Sweeney magic and are planning for our biggest and best summer yet! Our program’s mission has always been to provide a place where children with Type 1 Diabetes can feel normal, build confidence, recognize virtues within themselves, and be inspired to support each other. We have assembled a fantastic staff that has the passion to fulfill this mission and welcome our campers back to their home away from home.
Our Program Staff has been diligently planning for Summer 2021, and I am excited to announce some new enhancements we are rolling out this summer. Daytime activities will now include a pro-fishing class, advanced volleyball, expanded video productions, and a newly remodeled miniature golf course. Don’t worry; all the other traditional daytime activities will still be available! We are also making major enhancements to our nighttime programming. Our recently expanded campfire area will make concerts with the Sweeney 5 even more F-U-N. To celebrate the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Sweeney Olympics will be bigger than ever and feature some new surprises. One of the most exciting developments in our nighttime program is a brand-new mentor night unlike anything we’ve done at camp before. From dances to the all-camp hike, the rest of the nighttime events will remain as F-U-N as ever!
The most important part of Sweeney is, of course, our campers and the incredible relationships they form. In addition to expanded mentorship programs, we have allocated additional time for sibling group activities. However, just as important as our sibling group and mentorship programs is the free time spent with friends after meals or in cabins. With new modifications to our daily schedule, campers will have even more time to cultivate the bonds they form at camp in both structured and unstructured times.
Our incredibly dedicated and talented medical staff will continue serving at camp 24/7. The past few months our Medical Team has been working on accommodating the ever-expanding new medical devices and protocols at Sweeney this summer. These are changing the lives of patients with Type 1 diabetes, and this summer, we will be working with the next generation of hybrid pumps and CGMs. Camp Sweeney has always strived to be on the cutting edge of diabetes care, and as newer and better tools emerge, we work hard to incorporate them into our diabetes care model.
Our Medical Team is also working on keeping the infection risk of COVID-19 at the lowest possible level during our sessions. Using the guidance from the American Camp Association, the CDC, and the Texas Department of State Health Services, we have implemented various infection control protocols. Although some of these control protocols may change as infection rates drop in the country, we will do what is safest for our community this summer. Our current plan is outlined below, but we will continue to modify this plan as public health guidance and infection rates change.
Once again, I cannot express to you enough how overjoyed we are to bring the Sweeney family back together this summer. After almost two years since our last in-person session, providing a place that Sweeney campers know to be life-changing is one of the bright lights on the horizon.
If you have any questions about Summer 2021, please direct them to program1@campsweeney.org or sign up for a virtual Q&A session with an Associate Program Director over Zoom at campsweney.org/askapd/.
See you soon!
Ernie Fernandez, M.D.
Camp Director
As the days start to get warmer, Super Summer 2021 is finally on the horizon! At Camp Sweeney, we have been working nonstop to prepare Sweeney for the return of our campers. It has been a challenging 22 months without Sweeney, but the drought will soon be over. We cannot wait to bring back the Sweeney magic and are planning for our biggest and best summer yet! Our program’s mission has always been to provide a place where children with Type 1 Diabetes can feel normal, build confidence, recognize virtues within themselves, and be inspired to support each other. We have assembled a fantastic staff that has the passion to fulfill this mission and welcome our campers back to their home away from home.
Our Program Staff has been diligently planning for Summer 2021, and I am excited to announce some new enhancements we are rolling out this summer. Daytime activities will now include a pro-fishing class, advanced volleyball, expanded video productions, and a newly remodeled miniature golf course. Don’t worry; all the other traditional daytime activities will still be available! We are also making major enhancements to our nighttime programming. Our recently expanded campfire area will make concerts with the Sweeney 5 even more F-U-N. To celebrate the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Sweeney Olympics will be bigger than ever and feature some new surprises. One of the most exciting developments in our nighttime program is a brand-new mentor night unlike anything we’ve done at camp before. From dances to the all-camp hike, the rest of the nighttime events will remain as F-U-N as ever!
The most important part of Sweeney is, of course, our campers and the incredible relationships they form. In addition to expanded mentorship programs, we have allocated additional time for sibling group activities. However, just as important as our sibling group and mentorship programs is the free time spent with friends after meals or in cabins. With new modifications to our daily schedule, campers will have even more time to cultivate the bonds they form at camp in both structured and unstructured times.
Our incredibly dedicated and talented medical staff will continue serving at camp 24/7. The past few months our Medical Team has been working on accommodating the ever-expanding new medical devices and protocols at Sweeney this summer. These are changing the lives of patients with Type 1 diabetes, and this summer, we will be working with the next generation of hybrid pumps and CGMs. Camp Sweeney has always strived to be on the cutting edge of diabetes care, and as newer and better tools emerge, we work hard to incorporate them into our diabetes care model.
Our Medical Team is also working on keeping the infection risk of COVID-19 at the lowest possible level during our sessions. Using the guidance from the American Camp Association, the CDC, and the Texas Department of State Health Services, we have implemented various infection control protocols. Although some of these control protocols may change as infection rates drop in the country, we will do what is safest for our community this summer. Our current plan is outlined below, but we will continue to modify this plan as public health guidance and infection rates change.
Once again, I cannot express to you enough how overjoyed we are to bring the Sweeney family back together this summer. After almost two years since our last in-person session, providing a place that Sweeney campers know to be life-changing is one of the bright lights on the horizon.
If you have any questions about Summer 2021, please direct them to program1@campsweeney.org or sign up for a virtual Q&A session with an Associate Program Director over Zoom at campsweney.org/askapd/.
See you soon!
Ernie Fernandez, M.D.
Camp Director
Our Current COVID-19 Plan
Camp Family Groups
Sibling groups have always been an important part of Sweeney. This summer, campers will cohort within their sibling groups, meaning each sibling group will function as its own family unit. These groups will eat together at meals and sleep in the same area of the cabin. When campers are within their family unit, they will not need to physically distance nor wear masks. If a camper within a sibling group tests positive for COVID-19, the entire sibling group will isolate together. However, the isolated group will have their own specific activities and schedule to continue the F-U-N while waiting on test results.
Screening
Campers will receive temperature checks each morning with a contactless thermometer. Additionally, a camper’s big sibling will check in with their little siblings each day and will be on the lookout for symptoms that may indicate COVID-19 infection. Our medical staff will also screen for potential symptoms of a COVID-19 infection throughout the session.
Cabin Safety
We have installed medical curtains between sibling group bunk areas within cabins. Campers will not sleep with masks on so the curtains will lessen the risk of illness spreading at night. Cabin and building ventilation systems have been upgraded with ion cleaning systems that filter viral and bacterial material out of the circulating air.
Mealtimes
Glass barriers have been installed between the lodge and kitchen areas. Plexiglass barriers will be placed on tables to separate cohort sibling groups.
Opening Day
We have made several modifications to our Opening Day routine. Much of the check in that typically happens in-person at camp will take place over the phone prior to Opening Day. This will allow us to expedite the check in process. We are also limiting the number of individuals who enter camp on Opening Day, and we will ask everyone except the camper to remain in the car for the entirety of the check in, drop off, and move in process. Each camper will take a PCR test for COVID-19 upon arrival.
Sanitization
Increased sanitization protocols will ensure our cabins and activity areas are cleaner and safer than ever.
Facial Coverings
Masks will be an integral part of limiting the risk of COVID-19 spreading at camp this summer. When campers are within their sibling group, they will not need to wear masks. However, campers will be asked to wear masks when interacting with campers outside of their sibling group when physical distancing is not possible. It is our goal to minimize the time when campers are required to wear masks so many activities have been moved outside. Facial coverings do not need to be worn during eating, water activities, or sports that require physical exertion. Camp Sweeney will provide each camper a number of masks to use during their stay at camp.
Activities
All 34 activities are being offered for Summer 2021! Many of them have been moved outside, and masks will not need to be worn for most. However physical distancing will be required between campers who are not in the same sibling group cohort. Nighttime activities such as dances and campfires will occur with mask-wearing and other safeguards. For example, the SAC ventilation system has been enhanced to provide large amounts of airflow from the outside.
Field Trips
We are still evaluating the safety and possibility of having off-site trips for Summer 2021. If we do, they will be isolated trips where we have the entire venue to ourselves and are separated from the venue’s staff members.
Staff
We intend to have all staff members vaccinated against COVID-19 for Summer 2021. All counselors, medical staff, kitchen staff, and program assistants have agreed to get the COVID-19 vaccine as it becomes available to them before the summer. The CDC recently announced that summer camp employees should be considered essential childcare workers for the purpose of vaccine distribution so we anticipate having all staff vaccinated prior to the summer.
COVID-19 Testing
All campers will be given a PCR test for COVID-19 on opening day, day 5, and day 12 of each session. Campers who show symptoms that could indicate a COVID-19 infection will receive additional tests as needed. We have isolation and discharge protocols for any camper who tests positive for COVID-19. We have allocated additional isolation space in the Sweeney Medical Center for any camper exposed to COVID-19.
Will these protocols change during the sessions?
As a session progresses, we may be able to relax some of the measures based on COVID-19 test results earlier in the session.
What if my camper is fully vaccinated by the summer?
Campers who are fully vaccinated by their session, (i.e. campers who start their session at least 2 weeks after their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or 2 weeks after receiving the one dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine) will reduce the risk of spread within Camp Sweeney and have slightly different protocols. Fully vaccinated campers can:
- Forego the 7 day pre-isolation period
- Forego quarantine and remain in the main camp program if exposed to COVID-19
- Forego the 7 day pre-isolation period
- Forego quarantine and remain in the main camp program if exposed to COVID-19