‘Summerships’ to help with cost of camp

IOWA CITY - Many students do not have the financial means to attend camp, but a new program in the Corridor is seeking to bridge that gap.

The United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties, along with the Community Foundation of Johnson County, is using the proceeds from the Herky on Parade program to begin an endowment fund. The fund will support 84 'summerships” worth $250 - one for every Herky statue - for students eligible for free or reduced price lunches.

'Our hope is it will provide access to summer activities for children who wouldn't otherwise have access,” said Patti Fields, vice president of community impact and engagement for United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties.

The program is designed to help combat loss of learning and to keep kids active during the summer months. The summerships can be applied to any kind of summer program, even if it is not necessarily designed to be educational.

'It keeps kids active rather than sitting in front of a TV playing video games,” said Michael Stoffregen, executive director of the Community Foundation of Johnson County. 'It's getting them out ... (and) keeping them socially active as well.”

This year's summerships are being funded by the United Way, the community foundation, and the Riverboat Foundation of Washington County. All future summerships will be paid for through interest incurred from the endowment, which was seeded with the $75,000 raised from the sales of the Herky statues. The endowment has $150,000 in it right now, but Stoffregen said the short-term goal is to raise $440,000. In the long term, the organizations hope to raise $2 million.

'As the endowment grows, so will the number of scholarships we're able to fund,” he said.

Josh Schamberger, president of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, who helped organize the Herky on Parade initiative, said the summership program will be a long-lasting community benefit.

'I think that's just awesome. We can get kids to go to art camp, we can get kids to go to all sorts of different camps, theater, whatever they're interested in,” he said. 'It will help the kids grow and help our community grow.”

To apply for a summership or donate to the endowment fund, visit the United Way website, unitedwayjc.org.