We are very excited to announce we’ve just dropped our very first TikTok! Now this isn’t just any regular TikTok…we’ve created our very own original TikTok dance to a BRAND NEW Manitou Remix! So grab your family, your friends or do it solo and join us for the TikTok #manitouchallenge – let’s go viral this weekend! CLICK HERE to watch the TikTok and use our remix to create your own. Make sure to tag us (@manitoucamp) when you post and use the hashtag #manitouchallenge. If you don’t have TikTok, feel free to post and tag us on Instagram too! Our very own senior girls unit head, Halle has created a 5 minute easy-to-follow tutorial, so you can take your time this weekend to learn it at your own speed. We can’t wait to see your #manitouchallenge posts soon! WATCH OUR TIKTOK TUTORIAL! CHARACTER POWERS RECAP Thanks to the 50+ campers, CITs and staff who joined us Thursday evening for our Character Powers workshop. It was incredible to join forces with both our Unit Heads and the founder Michael Kronick to discover our inner Character Powers. We now all have the ability to create our own Character Powers cards! We look forward to sharing this social and emotional learning activity that emphasizes positivity & wellness with our community! If you would like to support the program, Manitou has also been given an exclusive promotional code for discounted access to the Character Powers reading cards. Included is a collection of 22 visually appealing cards that tell the diverse stories of people who have lived their lives exhibiting strength in character. Learn about their stories and be inspired by their Character Powers. Additional cards with instructions, definitions and make-your-own templates are also included to enhance your Character Powers experience. By using the promo code MANITOU, you will get 25% off your order! CLICK HERE to purchase your Character Powers reading cards. This is the perfect activity for the whole family!

CHARACTER POWERS PROGRAM: MAY 28TH! We are excited to announce our partnership with Character Powers, which is a social and emotional learning activity for the whole family that emphasizes positivity and wellness. Please RSVP below to join us on Thursday, May 28th at 7:00 PM EST on ZOOM for what is sure to be an inspiring program! We will be joined by some of our 2020 unit heads and the creator and founder of Character Powers, Michael Kronick who will facilitate the 1 hour FREE workshop.  By signing up for this virtual camp activity, all of us can genuinely recognize and appreciate our positive personality traits. We will use the strengths of inspirational people throughout history like Michael Jordan, Dr. Seuss, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and even Lady Gaga to name a few…to discover our true “Character Powers”. Through the program, we will all create our own Characters Powers card and work together as a community to raise our self-esteem and learn about ourselves in a deeper way. After the session, you will have access to a powerful activity that you can use with both family and friends. By signing up for session you will receive the program template and ZOOM link needed for the workshop. Reach out to cabin mates or family members and sign up. Limited spaces available – you must complete the sign up for to register for the event. Please RSVP by no later than Wednesday to let us know if you can join. We hope to see you there! SIGN UP FOR CHARACTER POWERS Manitou has also been given an exclusive promotional code for discounted access to the Character Powers reading cards. Included is a collection of 22 visually appealing cards that tell the diverse stories of people who have lived their lives exhibiting strength in character. Learn about their stories and be inspired by their Character Powers. Additional cards with instructions, definitions and make-your-own templates are also included to enhance your Character Powers experience. By using the promo code MANITOU, you will get 25% off your order! CLICK HERE to purchase your Character Powers reading cards.   GIVING BACK: SHOP TO SHARE CONTINUES! Thank you to our many families who have already helped to support Shop to Share, which is a grassroots initiative helping women within the Durham region. Our Manitou community’s contributions of food and personal items have already helped many women and children in need.  HOW CAN I HELP? Please drop off items at the addresses below on Thursdays prior to 3:00 PM. If you are unable to drop off items, please consider making a donation to Victim Services of Durham Region Fund. Tax receipts are provided and additional funds are needed more than ever. DONATE HERE If you know of a company that would be open to donating items please share the contact with us.  ITEMS MOST NEEDED Non-Perishable: canned fruit and vegetables (not beans right now), cereals, granola bars, almond milk, nuts, instant soups, crackers, cookies, microwaveable ravioli, Kraft Dinner, Annie’s Mac and Cheese, pizza pockets, beef jerky, bread (whole wheat, bagels, muffins, croissants), oatmeal, dried fruit, juice boxes, soda, chips, protein bars, Lunchables, canned tuna & salmon, Ensure, oatmeal and healthy kids snacks (unsweetened apple sauce, goldfish crackers, almond butter, juice boxes, string cheese). Perishable: eggs, apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, cheese, hummus & dips, cucumbers, cured meats, corn, celery and cheese Baby Items: formula, cereal, bottles, diapers, diaper cream. WHERE DO I DROP OFF? There will be open bins at each house eliminating the need to touch anything. Next drop off is Thursday, May 21st before 3:00 PM at any of the following addresses: CINDY: 8 Heathdale Rd.  Toronto  TINA: 35 Millbank Ave. Toronto SHARYN: 49 Felicia Court   Thornhill NANCY: 127 Elgin Street   Thornhill Thank you in advance for your continued support!

 

Greetings! Thank you to everyone who joined us on Thursday night for our 2nd Virtual Fireside on YouTube. We know that is a very difficult time for all of us and we hope that coming together offered a much needed sense of community. Thank you for sticking with us through the technical difficulties – who knew our camp spirit was powerful enough to crash the world’s biggest video platform?! We want to thank our ‘Camp Is’ speakers: Jake Levy, Juliet Weingarten, Aaron Entebi, Olivia Weller, Jeremy Hirsh, Erin Herzstein, Jonelle & Lexi Grossman and Julie Foster for expressing what Manitou means to them. We also hope that everyone was able to benefit from our dear friend and esteemed social worker Joe Rich’s advice about how we can learn to cope and move forward in healthy way. For those of you who were unable to join us for the fireside livestream, we have included a recording of the evening below. We would encourage all of those who joined us on Thursday night to watch again as you may have missed Mark and Jeff’s heartfelt camp address or Melissa aka Robo-Bruce’s speech, which we were able to fix with the power of Manitou magic. We are grateful that we came together again as a Manitou Family and we hope you felt the heart of Manitou from home. WATCH THE FIRESIDE LIVESTREAM UPCOMING VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING We are partnering with Character Powers, which is a social and emotional learning activity that emphasizes positivity and wellness. During this complex time, being able to reflect on who we are as people and recognize and acknowledge our own strengths is so important. Through the program, we will all create our own Characters Powers card and work together with our community to raise our self-esteem, learn about ourselves in a deeper way and virtually connect as a community. Please save the date: May 28th and stay tuned for more information to sign up for this event. We have reached out to Baycrest – the largest assisted living residence in Toronto – as so many of our precious seniors are more isolated than ever and need our help. We are creating a special program called “Adopt a Grandparent”, which will allow our campers to not only support our seniors virtually, but to also hear their stories and learn from their wisdom. We will be providing more details on how to get involved with this #ManitouCares initiatives in the coming weeks. STAY CONNECTED! Staying connected through our social is a great way to stay up to date with all things Manitou and updates on our upcoming virtual programming. Please show us some love and leave a comment on our recent “Tribute to Summer 2020” IGTV Video. Also, we have just created our very own TikTok account. What could this mean? Follow us @manitoucamp and stay tuned for something exciting coming soon…

Dear Manitou Families, Staff and Friends:

Thank you for all your wonderful messages of support during these unprecedented times. Normally at this juncture we would have been focused on site preparation, leadership training, program development and review of camper application, medical and information forms. Instead, each day is filled with obtaining advice from numerous physicians, infectious disease experts, and other colleagues whom we hold in high esteem.

Your heartfelt words console us at a time where we feel bereft at the thought of no camp this summer. All of you have shown incredible empathy and compassion with your replies. We wish to quote a few parents from our Manitou family who echo many of the beautiful words we have been so fortunate to receive:

“We are the fortunate ones. Our kids know that their parents are the lucky ones … our kids know that we are lucky to have jobs, where many are struggling to keep even one in the family working. They also know that we are the ones that simply by good fortune, have a home with lots of space, and a yard to isolate in, and plenty of food in our kitchen. We tell our kids daily and it is not lost on them how many blessings we have.  Our hearts go out to those who are struggling to get through the days and weeks safely, and our gratitude goes out to those who are on the front lines.“

“We have always realized how fortunate we are to be a part of your camp family. We also feel for those who are suffering worldwide. Our kids are still allowed to feel sad for what they are losing… We want them to continue to be able to put things into the proper perspective with compassion and open minds always.“

“We adults know how much our kids need camp, how desperately they need to have no technology, how they need to bond with and be with their friends, how badly they need to hug their friends and feel like kids again. But we also know how complicated it is to contemplate how it might actually happen. It is all so extremely challenging. “

We have travelled along every road to find a new avenue to take us to camp, but every time we try to create a new pathway, we always end up at a dead end. The time has come to stop rationalizing and face the facts as hard as that may be. There are simply too many known and unknown risks to safely go forward.

Whether it be our infectious disease experts, physicians, Public Health, or our local medical officer of health, we are told repeatedly that camps are an amplifier to a degree that makes them a significant vector for passing on the virus.

You chose Manitou because you trust us, and we feel we must keep the commitment we have made to you to ensure our Manitou family will be safe. We have always based our health and safety protocols on the highest standards, and we will continue to do so.

Unfortunately as a result of the orders of the Provincial Government due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are forced to cancel all summer camp bookings for this upcoming season.

Manitou has always been a camp that takes great pride in our commitment to building resilience and taking healthy risks. We have also always said that it is our mandate to treat every camper and staff as if they are our own children. We simply must ask the question, “Can we keep our staff and campers safe?” and as tough as it is to admit it, it is clear: camp is an unhealthy risk at this time. If anything changes, we of course will let you know, but at this time we feel this is highly unlikely. Please know we are always open to re-evaluating new sessions if we feel the risks can be appropriately minimized while being able to comply, execute and enforce  the  public health guidelines at the time.

Financial Implications

Please understand that the financial impact to us is considerable. Yet we must remove ourselves from the equation and make these decisions assuming we have no financial interest; to do otherwise would not allow us to proceed objectively.

What happens with your deposit or payment to date?

We must make sure that you are not negatively impacted from the cancellation of camp and will be providing you with an update in June with options for your deposit. We know some of you are experiencing financial challenges right now, so if you require your deposit back prior to June, it is our absolute pleasure to return it to you. If this is necessary, please e-mail Jen (jen@manitoucamp.com) to begin this process.

How do we move forward with our feelings?

We spend all year planning for the summer, just as your kids spend all year counting down the days. A Manitou summer defines who we are. Knowing what your children will lose this summer is heartbreaking.

The sadness we are feeling is immense and without precedent. That same sadness with your children needs to be embraced in a way that somehow recognizes the opportunities and privilege that your children have had together as part of our Manitou family and will have again in the future. Listen to your children: their pain is real. Over time, and when appropriate, try to turn this emotional distress into an important teachable moment and discussion about resilience.

We know for parents it is just as difficult. Your time self-isolating may be among the toughest days you have ever had to endure and you have a right to be just as disappointed over this news.

It’s now time as one united community to express our sorrow, while bringing our Manitou Family together with messages of hope and gratitude at the same time. Our memories that have kept us going all year long will have to carry over to next summer.  To allow this to happen, we have to work even harder in doing what we do best: taking good care of each other and giving back to those less fortunate.

On Thursday May 14th at 7:00 pm, we will be holding our second Virtual Fireside to unite as one strong community during this difficult time. We will welcome guest Joe Rich, our camp friend and noted social worker, to give us all some tips on how to deal with this new reality. You will also hear from some Manitou campers and staff with messages of support. Your children need to experience joy, laughter, and rebuild their confidence, recognize their feelings, and learn how to move on in as healthy a way as possible. We must remember that with adversity comes opportunity.

We hope to hear from you, chat, and help explain or answer any questions. Our true voices of support now come with not just our hearts, but our ongoing commitment to talking in real time to you and your children. We will continue to partner with you to help your kids grow with a foundation of love, respect, and empathy. We will continue to move forward in the Manitou way, with transparency, positivity, and gratitude.

Sincerely,

Mark, Jeff and the entire 2020 director team

P.S We strongly encourage you to CLICK HERE to read our “Frequently Asked Questions”, which offers additional clarity and outlines our decisions in greater detail regarding the upcoming summer.

We hope everyone enjoyed our Week 7 virtual programming. From baking delicious cookies to making hilarious mad libs, being able to come together as a Manitou family during these times of isolation has never been more important. If you missed Arly’s baking takeover, you can download the recipe HERE to make your own batch of cookies! This upcoming Thursday we are planning on uniting as a Manitou family once again for our 2nd Virtual Fireside – please read below for more details. We want to thank everyone who participated in our Shop to Share initiative this past week helping displaced women and children in the Durham region. The program will continue for the upcoming week – stay tuned for more details of how to help those less fortunate. JOIN US FOR OUR 2ND VIRTUAL FIRESIDE! We are very excited to announce our 2nd Virtual Fireside. Please join us Thursday, May 14th at 7:00 PM EST for a special evening. At Fireside, we take time out of our week to slow down and think about what we are grateful for and unite as a camp community. Fireside will be hosted on YouTube LIVE and we will send an email early Thursday morning with the streaming link. PARTNERING WITH PARENTS: DEVELOPMENT DURING COVID-19 We’d love to share with you some thoughts from a recent Huffington Post article written by Catherine Pearson discussing how parents can help their children’s development during these unprecedented times. Mental health experts say kids will come out of the Covid-19 pandemic with some powerful life skills and tools for getting through hard stuff. That’s not to sugarcoat the reality, but it is a reminder of the kind of learning that can come through adversity. Here are four powerful lessons kids can take away and some simple strategies to help them get there. Lesson #1: How to live with uncertainty. In a matter of months, kids’ worlds have been totally upended by COVID-19. Their school has moved online, they can only see extended family and frends virtually and there is limited ability to go outside. None of the grown-ups in their lives can give them any answers about how or when this will all end, because everything is uncertain. Learning to live with discomfort and uncertainty is part of becoming a “developmentally healthy” adult, said Nicholas Westers, a pediatric psychologist. How you can help? Rather than trying to give your child a clear answer about what comes next, be honest about the fact that there is a lot we do not know. If you have a toddler or preschool-age kid at home, explain that doctors are working to find medicine that will help us all be healthy and could allow life to go back to normal. With older kids, you can be more candid. Ask them about what they think is happening in the world right now, then tell them what you know — and what you don’t. Promise you will continue talking about what comes next as things continue to change and progress. Lesson #2: How to be resilient. We know kids are struggling to accept the reality of today’s world and their place in it. With that said, this is a great time for parents to help kids learn to appreciate their own abilities to bounce back. How you can help? Allow room for their discomfort by simply acknowledging that you are also feeling stress and fear. Then model coping for your children such as going for a walk, practicing deep breathing, connecting with friends etc. Think of ways to include your kids, which in turn will hold you more accountable to your own self care. Reinforcing problem-solving skills can also help foster resiliency. When there is a dilemma or a question, instead of answering it, it’s a great time to ask our kids to tell us what they’re thinking. It may be the first time that we’ve had the time to sit down and really observe our children’s thinking processes and problem-solving skills. If your kid tells you they’re sad or lonely, perhaps ask what they think a good coping strategy is, rather than immediately jumping in with a suggestion. Give them a chance to think on their own and to use you as a sounding board. Lesson #3: That they are so much more than school and extracurriculars. Many older kids have had ideas of things they wanted to learn or do that they’ve never really had the time for. Our teenagers are over-scheduled and they don’t have downtime or playtime anymore – now they have plenty of it. We’ve heard stories of campers who have taken up the guitar, or who have tried cooking for the first time, maybe even during one of our instagram live virtual programs. It’s not about self-improvement, it’s about making sure that your child recognizes they have time and space to reconnect with who they are outside of school and their usual routines. How you can help? Talk with your child about what they’d like to be doing more of, then be prepared to get into their chosen hobbies with them — even if that means pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. If they don’t necessarily have a ton of ideas about what they’d like to do, think about some simple things you can do together, like playing a board game or making a meal together. Then tell them how happy you are to have that time together and how much you value your connection with them. Lesson #4: How important their role is in your family. When everyone is busy rushing out the door to work or school, your child may lose sight of their own role in the household. Now is a good time to make it clear that your family is a team and they are an essential part of it. You can teach them each person plays a part in the family routine during this isolated time. How you can help: Ask your child to help you with sweeping, or cleaning up toys, or other simple chores. You might have to redo it, but you’re setting a precedent that they are a part of the team. Depending on your child’s age, now is a good time to give them more responsibility around the house than you might otherwise. Let them set their own alarm clocks. Give them chances to make their own meals. Make sure they’re taking out the trash or cleaning up around the house. Give them important roles at home. Reinforce how helpful they are and important they are to the family. We hope these lessons can help enrich your child’s development during this complex time. We must remember that in adversity there is also opportunity.

Dear Manitou Families,

We hope that you and your families are healthy at home and coping well with the current climate. We are now able to provide an update for summer 2020. It’s crazy to think that just six weeks ago, we were all in the office, discussing World Games teams, planning exciting new programs, and finalizing our staff for Manitou Summer 2020. Excitement was building, spring was in the air, and the camp season felt right around the corner.

So much can change in just over a few months.

We are now thrown into this new paradigm together and must make the best decisions possible to ensure that we, your children and our loved ones are healthy.

How can we even express how we are feeling? Like you, we are confused, overwhelmed, and anxious. So why write to you now? Because our commitment has always been to be transparent with our families. We respect you, and we want you to trust us. We need to face the uncertainty together.

As a result of the Ontario Government’s shutdown of all non-essential businesses, all summer camps have been closed since mid-March and the question is when and if the Government will reopen camp, and under what conditions? Adding to the complexity is the fact that we have already been set back many weeks to open the on-site camp premises. We hope circumstances change and it becomes feasible to operate camp in some form this summer, and that public health and the Ontario Government can help guide us in this regard. But ultimately it is our camp leadership team that must be confident we are able to operate Manitou at the high standards that you expect. Ensuring your children, the staff, the maintenance/kitchen crew, the director team, and your families are all safe as a result.

Like all camp directors, we are staying as informed as possible, communicating with experts in medicine, infectious disease, and public health. Our primary goal is to do anything we can to make camp happen this summer, in one form or another and we must look to our governing bodies and infectious disease experts, physicians and the science to make the most educated decisions possible.

It goes without saying; if there ever was a time for the need for camp, it is now. You may have heard already about a wide range of decisions from the summer camp world. Some camps, mostly non-profits, have already cancelled their summer sessions entirely, closing up until summer 2021. Most camps have accepted the fact that the best case is having the camp sessions pushed backward.  So many factors affect each camp uniquely; directors simply must make the decision that serves their campers, staff and families best.

As always, our goal is to ensure that campers and staff are as safe as possible. The tricky part now is that with COVID-19, we have been thrown a new risk that nobody can truly measure.

What are some of the factors that determine if camp will open this summer?

The first consideration is what actions and decisions Ontario Public Health makes over the coming weeks:

1. Ontario Public Health would need to give Ontario summer camps approval to open.
2. Should camp be allowed to open, we expect extensive guidelines to be in place that help to mitigate the risk. It is possible that these guidelines make opening camp impossible from a health and safety perspective, including interfering with our ability to operate as you and we would expect.
3. In the event that we encounter cases of COVID-19 at camp, we would need assurances from public health that any confirmed or suspected cases at camp would not be required to quarantine in place. That is, public health would permit us to send any confirmed or suspected cases home to quarantine. Without this assurance, our camp would be at risk of having to close mid-session, to which the ramifications for our campers and staff are unacceptable.
4. Finally, we await guidance to understand what requirements public health would have on campers at the end of session. Whether these would include requirements to quarantine after camp and would this be acceptable to our campers and families?

Once camp is permitted to open, there will be a lag time, a process that typically takes six weeks to prepare the site, do the necessary opening, maintenance and construction to ensure camp is operable and safe.

Just as importantly, there are countless considerations our team needs to consider in opening camp this summer. These considerations include, but are not limited to:

1. Do we have the appropriate staffing mix to maintain the operation of all our activities? In making this decision, we consider that 20% of our staffing mix comes from outside Canada and we are unsure if they will be able to be at camp.
2. If we are not able to maintain all of our activities, can we maintain enough activities to ensure the essence of the Manitou experience remains intact?
3. Can we secure nurses and doctors to fill our medical team needs? Can we source the necessary PPE for our medical team? And can the Parry Sound health system handle the increased capacity that camp brings?
4. Can our kitchen team modify their processes in sourcing and preparing food safely for the whole camp?
5. Will we require testing and be able to source the necessary testing kits, and we must be satisfied in the accuracy and response time of testing kits by the summer?
6. We will need to limit entry and exit from the camp for both campers and staff. How can we maintain these restrictions, with buy-in from all parties, while honouring staff days off and ensuring this does not affect our staffs’ performance?

Right now, we are working tirelessly on answering all of these questions, should Ontario Public Health make decisions that are favourable for holding some form of camp this summer. Answering these questions comes with some uncertainties and takes time. So the one thing we can say with complete certainty is this: we are utterly heartbroken that camp can not start on a timely basis this summer.

So what now?

As of now, all we can say is camp will not be starting on time.  No Forms or Payments are due until further notice.  Sessions will be have to be pushed back a few weeks as a best case scenario in order to allow us to camp get camp ready for use. With an extra week in the summer we do have the option to end camp on September 2^nd instead of August 13^th.

We know that you are all eager to have some certainty for the upcoming summer. We expect that by May 15^th, you will have our full position on what summer 2020 will look like. We are still hopeful for camp to happen, and that is why we are waiting a few more weeks to work through the details.

You have our unwavering commitment that whatever happens this summer, we will continue to support you and your children, the staff, and the entire Manitou community. Our virtual camp sessions will continue, and together we will remind ourselves that camp is more than just a place that kids go for the summer. It’s a community that stands by each other, connecting even when our physical presence together may not be possible.  We also want to continue to emphasize that regardless of what we or public health decide, anyone who feels uncomfortable in sending their child to camp will be given their full deposit or payments back.

Finally let’s keep on thanking and supporting those on the front lines, both in our medical community, and those working in essential services.  These people are the true heroes.

We would love to hear from you by email with your thoughts about the summer. We may not be able to respond to everyone, but we do cherish your feedback and feel it can assist us with our decision making.  Most importantly, hearing from you will put a smile on our faces as we navigate this journey together!

Stay healthy and we will continue to communicate as the spring unfolds.

Sincerely,

Mark, Jeff, Jen, Melissa and Alec

We hope that you enjoyed our special edition “Late Night” Instagram LIVE takeovers this past week! From heart-warming concerts to hilarious bedtime stories, we loved ending our long days together as a Manitou family and feeling a much needed sense of community during this time of isolation. The good news is that our virtual programming continues and we are thrilled to announce our full Week 6 line up, which is sure to bring more exciting activities and entertainment for all. Please scroll to the bottom of the e-mail for the full schedule. While our virtual programming is important, we also know it is imperative for us to recognize that there are many facing serious challenges are a result of COVID-19. While we have done a fantastic job as community supporting our frontline healthcare workers through our previous initiatives, we wanted to find other ways to show that #ManitouCares and help others who are in need. Please read below to learn more about how we can all give back through our new Shop to Share program. LET’S GIVE BACK WITH SHOP TO SHARE! We are very proud to be supporting Shop to Share, a grassroots initiative that is gaining momentum in helping women within the Durham region. Providing food to those in need is difficult at any time but with COVID-19, distributing food is even more essential. Sadly, self-isolation and job loss create prime conditions for abuse. Statistics Canada recently reported that one in 10 women currently fear violence in the home, while police forces report a rise in domestic violence calls. Our Manitou community’s contributions of food and personal items can help women and children in need. Global TV spotlighted Shop to Share and you can click below to see how together we can make a difference. HOW CAN I HELP? When you do your weekly shop, consider picking up some extra items to be dropped off at any of the addresses below on Thursdays prior to 3:00 PM. These will be picked up and distributed to women and children in need the next day.  If you are unable to drop off items, please consider making a donation to Victim Services of Durham Region Fund. Tax receipts are provided and additional funds are needed more than ever. DONATE HERE WHAT ITEMS ARE NEEDED? Many women flea homes quickly and only have limited kitchens with microwave, mini-fridge and perhaps a stovetop, so please keep this in mind when contributing. 1) Non-perishable food: canned goods, cereals, granola bars, shelf-stable milks, instant soups, healthy kids snacks like unsweetened apple sauce and goldfish crackers, pasta, sauce, bread etc. 2) Perishable food: items with longer expiry dates and no need for immediate refrigeration such as apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, some cheese, corn, cucumbers, eggs, cured meat etc. 3) Kitchen essentials: Can openers, reusable cutlery and bowls 4) Personal items: cosmetics, shampoo, soap, feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hairbrushes etc. If you have an extra hair dryer you could donate, that would also be appreciated! 5) For kids: new or gently used books, crayons, paper, games and other similar items. WHERE AND WHEN DO I DROP OFF? There will be open bins on the front porch so there is no need to touch anything. The next drop off is Thursday May 7th before 3:00 PM at any of the following addresses: Cindy: 8 Heathdale Rd. Toronto  Tina: 35 Millbank Ave. Toronto  Karine: 56 Elgin Ave. Toronto (corner of Elgin and Bedford) Sharyn:  49 Felicia Court Thornhill Nancy: 127 Elgin Street Thornhill We hope you are able to take part in this Manitou Cares program and please feel free to pass this on to others who may wish to help. OUR TAKEOVERS CONTINUE FOR WEEK 6! We are looking forward to Week 6, which will return to our regular time of 5:00 PM EST (Toronto time). Join us on Camp Manitou’s Instagram LIVE stream with a Camp Celebrity for a fun activity for you, your friends and your family.