The Latest Addition to the Anokijig Fleet

Regular readers of the Anokijig Insider will remember the feature we did on Ken & Melody Cavan's donation of a Kubota UTV a few years ago.  We're happy to report these generous supporters have made another donation to the Anokijig fleet- a brand-new Honda Foreman Rubicon.  This is the fourth ATV/UTV Ken & Melody have donated to Anokijig over the years and we can't thank them enough for their generosity.

We tried to get a photo of all four vehicles in the same place, but these vehicles are in such high demand at Anokijig, that we felt fortunate to find two in the same place, at the same time.  Anyone who has ever walked up the hill behind Western Lodge has probably noticed a few of these vehicles parked next to the kitchen windows.  These aren't the most glamorous of donations and they certainly aren't kept in the most obvious of areas at Camp, but they are integral to the operations of Anokijig and we don't know what we would do without them.

Many of our donors have preferences in what they give or how they support Anokijig.  Our campership program, which provides camping opportunities for underprivileged kids is extremely popular, as is support of our program areas.  These types of gifts are often high-profile or at least easy for donors to make a connection to how they benefit kids.  An ATV is not such a donation, because our campers never use them and they aren't directly used in our program areas.  However, their uses around camp, from hauling luggage trailers on check-in days, to providing access to hard-to-reach areas of Anokijig simply make Camp function.

Anokijig wouldn't be what it is today without our donors and while we appreciate all our donors, we feel especially fortunate to have supporters like Ken & Melody Cavan, who understand the needs of Anokijig on a behind-the-scenes level and are willing to support the infrastructure that makes the Anokijig engine run so well!

A Luxury For Some, a Necessity for Anokijig

Like many non-profits, Anokijig has a long list of things we need to help provide a wonderful experience for our campers (not the least of which is a generous donor, who would like to help pay off our bank loans).  When we first saw these golf carts a few years ago, we thought the big tires were just for showing off and didn't think they actually served a purpose.  As we've acquired a few golf carts over the years at Camp, we've come to realize they do have a functional purpose, at least at Anokijig.  This particular cart is an ST Express, manufactured by EZ-GO, but other manufacturers make similar versions.

Anyone who has ever visited Anokijig can tell you our terrain can be very hilly and some of our roads can be quite rocky.  The golf carts we have now do an admirable job of handling that terrain, but many times they are just not up to the task.  Our golf carts have tires that were designed not to tear up well-manicured grass, not scramble over a rocky hillside on the way to a tent section.  Bottoming out on rocks and flat tires at Anokijig are not uncommon.

Our golf carts are also limited in their seating capacity at four, while this cart has three rows of seating.  This is especially important when families are at Anokijig.  We frequently shuttle families to and from sections on check-in day and we're often limited in what we can carry.  Sometimes there's only enough room for mom, dad and some luggage.  There is also a big need on family weekends, when larger families need help moving around camp or from remote parking during our special events.

We don't expect someone will read this blog today and we'll have a new golf cart at our doorstep tomorrow, but we at least want to put the information out there, so folks know there is a need.  Someone may know a person who has one of these carts, but rarely uses it and might be interested in making a tax-deductible donation.  We suspect this cart might be similar to the RTV that was donated by Ken and Melody Cavan a few years ago.  We never had an RTV before, so we didn't recognize the specific need for it.  Now that we have one, we don't know how we ever survived without it.

If you know someone who has one of these carts or a dealer or manufacturer, please tell them about Anokijig and help us better serve the children and families who visit us!

What is an RTV and Why Does Anokijig Have One?

Have you ever seen this orange vehicle running around Anokijig and wondered what it is or where it came from? This vehicle is a Kubota RTV900 and it came to us through the generosity of one of our board members, Ken Cavan and his wife, Melody.

We're not sure what the "RTV" stands for, but we think "Really Tremendous Vehicle" fits pretty well. The RTV is like an ATV, only larger and more versatile. It can comfortably carry two passengers, while hauling a load in it's bed and towing a trailer. It also has four-wheel drive, which makes a big difference around Camp's more rustic roads and is powered by a very efficient diesel engine.

For many years, Anokijig has relied on large, V8-powered pickup trucks to assist our staff and volunteers in various projects around Camp. While effective, these trucks were often overkill, because they were so big and used so much fuel, when sometimes all we needed was something just a little bit bigger than an ATV to get the job done. From hauling camper luggage and hay for the horses, to putting up fenceline (as pictured above), the RTV really gets the job done for us and does so at a fraction of the operating cost and environmental impact of the pickup trucks we'd have to use otherwise.

If Anokijig had unlimited resources, we would've purchased one of these vehicles a long time ago. Unfortunately, we have bigger budgetary fish to fry and have to rely on the generosity of our donors for some of these fantastic additions.

That's where Ken & Melody Cavan come into the picture. Even before becoming a board member for Anokijig, Ken had been a long-time supporter of Anokijig and made regular trips to Camp every year, with Meldoy accompanying him on many of those visits.

These visits gave them both more intimate knowledge of our daily operations and allowed them to identify areas where help was most needed. They knew that by purchasing this RTV for Anokijig, they would not only be adding a useful vehicle to our fleet, but significantly reducing our operating costs and carbon footprint for many years to come.

Ken & Melody have often commented that one of their favorite things about donating to Anokijig is that their gifts go exactly where they were intended. If they want to give Camp an RTV, boat engine or a saddle, they can do that and know that their donation isn't being siphoned off by phantom administrative expenses or redirected to a parent organization's bottom line. We're so thankful for their support and involvement with Camp. It wouldn't be the same place without them!