Recently, the daughter and son of George Monk, CRS alumnus from the 1930’s, sent us a very touching letter that we wish to share with the community. The letter is a reminder of Camp Rising Sun’s long lasting impact. The action of one boy attending Camp in 1932 caused a ripple effect, which continues to this day, to impact the lives of his family. The Monk family included with the letter a donation in honor of Camp’s “values that made such an important difference in his life as well as ours.”

What follows is an excerpt of the letter we received:

"Our father, George Monk, was a camper at Camp Rising Sun in the early 1930's and a counselor at the camp in the early 1940's. He was also active in the CRS Alumni Association through the early 50's. We have very clear memories of visiting him at camp when he was a counselor and we were very young children and of going to camp for Alumni weekends when we were older, riding once or twice in Freddy Jonas's chauffeur-driven Cadillac.

Our father often spoke of "Camp" as one of the transformative experiences of his youth. He frequently recalled specific events and people, and how diverse and stimulating they were. Certainly, Camp was one of the strongest and most positive influences in this period of his life. It might even be said that his experiences of Camp became part of our family lore and history to such an extent that it had its effects upon us, especially at times such as the beginning of summer vacation when we were about nine and ten years old and he informed us that we would be studying German during the summer. As support for such a plan, he cited projects the campers had to complete when he was at Rising Sun. "Even though summer is a time for fun, one should always spend some time improving oneself," he would say.

On March 30, 2016 we celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of our father's birth. He died at age 94 in 2010. It pleases us greatly to make a gift to Camp Rising Sun at this time to commemorate his long and fruitful life, to support the work the camp does, and to honor its values that made such an important difference in his life as well as ours. To this end, please find our enclosed donation. We wish you and the camp the best of luck.

Thank you,

Ena Monk & Stephen Monk