BY MIA GLASS
MIDDLETOWN – A parent brings home a cardboard box for their child. It sits on the kitchen counter, waiting to be opened. The box is sealed shut with bright green packing tape that says “Confidential” in big orange and white font. This mysterious box immediately catches the child’s eyes, and they excitedly rip it open. What could it be?
With the school year rounding to a close, many children were looking forward to their summer full of fun at camp. However, protocols to protect against COVID-19 have forced traditional camps to close for the foreseeable future. But the Middletown Department of Recreation has taken this situation in stride, coming up with a new and inventive way to run their summer camp programs called Camp in a Box.
Janet Dellett, recreation director for Middletown Township, created a nine-week Camp in a Box program for township children after COVID-19 canceled traditional summer camp programs.
Each box contains a confidential “dossier” with nine weeks of fun. Each week has a different theme, with everything from scavenger hunts to arts and crafts to science activities.
“One of the big things is I want these boxes to be substantial. I’m not going to give a bunch of coloring sheets and say have at it,” said Janet Dellett, Middletown Township recreation director.
Theoretically, the children and their families could complete all nine activities in a few days and be done for the summer. However, the Camp in a Box also incorporates an online interactive or virtual component into most weeks. During week two, for example, children are encouraged to go outside and hunt for fossils. Afterward, they can talk to a recreation department staff member through Webex, a video conferencing application, who will help them identify any fossils they found.
“The virtual component is not mandatory, so if people don’t want to do it that’s OK, too. We want it to be low stress,” Dellett said.
All the families that registered for camp before the pandemic restrictions will get the Camp in a Box unless they opt out, in which case they will receive a full refund of camp fees. Dellett said only one family chose to go that route. All other families will receive the box and a partial refund of camp fees; families participating in the program will only pay $18 for the required Camp in a Box T-shirt. The township is covering any additional cost for the program. Each box is valued at $32-33.
“When someone signs up for camp, we let them pick whatever weeks and whatever add-ons that they want, so it’s not a cookie-cutter refund across the board,” Dellett said.
Dellett said families have been very understanding of the current conditions and the boxes actually turned out to be more popular than she imagined. After the recreation department placed the initial order of 500 boxes with custom packing tape from the company Uline, families who had not registered for camp heard about the box and inquired about joining the program. There was even a call from someone who wanted boxes for their mother and mother-in-law, so they could get the camp experience as well.
“Right off the bat we had a large amount of people who were excited about it and people who had not even registered for camp were like, ‘How do we get a box?’ ” said Dellett.
With the Camp in a Box demand spreading rapidly, Dellett upped the order to 700 boxes.
The Camp in a Box idea may also spread to other camp programs. As vice president of the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association, Dellett participates in many different groups and threads online. She has yet to see anything like the Middletown box at other New Jersey camps, but it is possible other programs may eventually pick up the idea.
“I’ve had a couple webinars since we announced it explaining what we’re doing, and I think other people are thinking about doing the same thing,” said Dellett.
With few firm guidelines from the state on how traditional camps would run this summer, Middletown Recreation had to make a decision, and the Camp-in-a-Box program is going to be it. However, Dellett said that once there are more specific instructions, she looks forward to offering one-day programs or special events for children and families in the community.
“We would be more than happy to do that,” said Dellet. “We all miss camp!”
The article originally appeared in the June 11 – 17, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
