2022 important updates:
Hi everyone,
We’re reaching out to you with some unfortunate news. We have had to make the seriously difficult decision this year to close Jimmy Club. Jimmy Club has always been a small family run camp, and depends on many aspects of the family in order to function. As we have all begun to go separate ways and face different challenges, we cannot continue.
I’ve gone to Jimmy Club every year of my life since I was 5, so I know as well as anyone how special and magical of a place it is. I remember my last day of the purple group, crying because I couldn’t imagine my summers without this little friend filled sanctuary. I remember sitting in a circle with the pink group my first year as a junior counselor, struck as they each explained all the beautiful things that they had learned in their summer. Having the chance to work with counselors as they learned to appreciate the impact they could have on these girls as role models and change makers was truly invaluable. This place has given me immense hope and inspiration as I’ve gotten to watch all of these girls grow, and I’ve been able learn from the perceptiveness and openness that they’ve been able to express here.
We hope that all of your girls will continue on their amazing journeys without us. We have loved to get to know every one of them, and to experience this adventure with them. We hope that you and they will carry our values with them, remembering always to make new friends, to respect, care, and include all those around them, to have the confidence to try and discover new things, and to bring joy into all that they do.
Thank you all for your constant support of us and trust in us. We’ll miss you all, and hope that we can reopen again one day.
With love,
Ellie and Vanessa
Activities
1. Sports gives girls the opportunity to rotate through a variety of sports such as soccer, volleyball, frisbee, and baseball.
2. Campers are taught swimming skills through lessons and games every day. Our pool has a three foot deep shallow end that allows girls to feel comfortable and creates a safe environment for girls that cannot swim.
3. Girls learn the rules of tennis and practice a variety of tennis skills.
4. Campers will have an opportunity to explore many aspects of art such as painting, drawing, building, mixing colors, and art history. Local artists will visit to help with special projects.
5. Each group will learn a cheer to be performed at the end of the session. Campers will also learn basic tumbling skills.
6. Each group will learn a special dance to be performed for the entire camp during the last week.
7. Girls get to practice outdoor skills and games and can enjoy our low ropes course.
Commitment to Inclusion
We believe, here at Jimmy Club, that camp is a place for exploration and discovery, where girls grow together and build long lasting friendships. Jimmy Club fosters acceptance amongst campers and strives to create a supportive and caring space where girls gain the confidence to express themselves fully. However, we also understand that sleep away, outdoor camps, and other summer programs like ours have traditionally been places attended by mostly people with privilege.
In order to change the industry and show our responsibility to the community, Jimmy Club will reinforce its commitment to creating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable community of girls— one that welcomes and benefits all campers and staff. We hope that through this dedication, we can better serve the Greater New Orleans area, especially the St. Rose community within which we are based. We plan to more accurately represent the Greater New Orleans population, to reflect the diversity in race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and life experience both in our campers and in our staff. In doing this, we will also create a supportive and compassionate environment that will allow campers and staff to feel comfortable, empowered, and to understand new perspectives.
To make all of this a reality, we will offer scholarships and financial assistance to provide less of an entry barrier, engage our staff in intensive and all inclusive training, and partner with local outside organizations that will strengthen and support our values.