Help me help you! 4 ideas to help engage camp staff in maintaining camp this summer

After months and months of juggling maintenance projects, capital improvements and year-round camp visitors, summer camp is just days or weeks away! For our camp rangers and maintenance teams, maintaining camp during the summer camp season can be complex! With new and returning camp staff, hundreds of weekly visitors, and the inevitable breakdown of some piece of equipment, it can be stressful to keep camp “day 1” ready every day.  

Here are a few suggestions of how you can leverage your summer camp staff to help them help you! 

• Provide resources. Working alongside the camp director, ensure that camp staff understand what a clean, safe and hazard free environment looks like in their specific area and then provide camp staff with cleaning supplies and basic supplies to help you help them keep their respective areas clean and hazard free.  
• Regular Inspections. Camp staff can conduct routine inspections of camp facilities, equipment, and grounds. See something? Say Something! They should report any issues, such as damaged buildings, broken equipment, or hazardous conditions, to the maintenance team promptly. This proactive approach can help prevent minor issues from becoming major problems. Make regular inspections a part of their daily camp routine in their assigned areas. 
• Have a specific process to notify you when something needs maintenance and communicate it to camp staff. Is this via paper? Via FIIX or other CMMS software? Online? Via text? The easier the process, the more likely you will know when something needs immediate repair. Share a sample of a “work order” that meets your expectations so camp staff know what will best help them help you help them when they submit a work order.  
• Promote a Culture of Care: Camp staff can help promote a culture of care and respect for camp facilities among campers and visitors. Encouraging campers to clean up after themselves, use facilities properly, and report any damage they notice can help prevent unnecessary wear and tear on camp facilities. By modeling this behavior as camp staff themselves, campers will also model this behavior.  

By actively involving camp staff in camp maintenance efforts, camps can ensure that their facilities remain safe, functional, and enjoyable for all campers and visitors throughout the camp season.