Camp Bowen

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick reminder that it isn’t too late to get your tasty Purdy’s holiday treats and support both Camp Bowen and the Pacific Training Centre for the Blind at the same time. Orders must be in by 11:59 PM Pacific on this coming Wednesday, November 28 and can be picked up in Victoria, Bowen Island, Vancouver, and Surrey.

Note to users of screen readers: You don’t need to register before accessing the fundraiser. Just go to the link below, and find the box that asks for your email address. Then, Enter your email address and press “Join Campaign”.

Order now!

The Camp Bowen Society for the Visually Impaired and the Pacific Training Centre for the Blind will jointly receive 25% of the proceeds from this fundraiser directly from Purdy’s.

To arrange your pick up date and location or if you have any questions or concerns, please call +1 (604) 947-0021 extension 102. Alternatively, you can call +1 (844) MYBOWEN (692-6936) extension 102.

Merry Christmas,
The Camp Bowen Team

Image copyright Purdy’s

Hello Everyone,

There are less than 60 hours left to get orders in for your tasty Purdy’s Easter treats. With pick up locations set up for Bowen Island, Vancouver, and Surrey, this is not a chance you want to miss!

25% of all proceeds will be donated by Purdy’s to the Camp Bowen Society for the Visually Impaired and 100% of that amount will go straight towards programs benefiting blind, partially sighted, and deaf blind Canadians.

For more information, please read our original post.

Or, if you would like to get started right away, just click on the below link and create an account:

Order now!

Remember, you pay the same as you’d pay in-store or online, and the Camp Bowen Society for the Visually Impaired gets 25% of sales.

Don’t miss the order deadline: March 12th at 11:59 PM.

We thank you in advance for your support of locally based programs benefiting blind, partially sighted, and deaf blind Canadians.

Please feel free to call us at +1 (604) 947-0021 with any questions you may have about this fundraiser or our program offerings.

Happy Easter,

The Camp Bowen Team

This is just a reminder that the 2017 Camp Bowen Showdown Tournament and Annual General Meeting will be held in Surrey in just under a week, on Saturday, October 14, 2017.

Thanks to a generous donation from one of our members, we are pleased to present the tournament prize as a gift card to White Spot valued at $25.

Please let us know if you plan on attending either the annual general meeting or the tournament before Friday, October 13, 2017 so we can best prepare. You can do so by calling +1 (604) 947-0021 extension 2 or by using the contact form on our website.

Our original announcement and teleconferencing details can be found here.

Update: For those who would like to attend our annual general meeting but cannot attend in person, you can teleconference into the meeting. Just call either +1 (604) 947-0021 or +1 (844) 692-6936 on the day of the meeting. When you get to the main menu, press 6 and you will be connected to the meeting.

Come help us run camps and have fun at the Camp Bowen showdown tournament fundraiser and Annual General Meeting (AGM). If you are interested in how the society works and would like to help out come to our AGM at 12:30 or just eat food and play showdown from 1:30 to 5. There will be a prize for the tournament winner.

Please let us know as soon as possible so we can organize players and order enough lunches. We can be reached by phone at +1 (604) 947-0021 Extension 2 or by using our contact form on our website.

Note: This event is family friendly.

Date:

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Where:

5737 180 St., Surrey, BC

Lunch:

Pizza, pop, and chips

Price for AGM:

Free

Price for Lunch and Tournament:

$10.00

Directions

Note: If you need assistance with any part of this route, please call us at: +1 (604) 947-0021 Extension 2.

From Surrey Central

1. Take the 320 Langley Centre bus from Surrey Central SkyTrain Bay 2. Do not board the 320 Fleetwood bus.
2. Get off at 60 Ave. and 180 St.
3. When you get off the bus, turn right and walk down 60 Ave.
4. At the first intersection, cross straight. You will be crossing 180 St.
5. Turn left and walk along 180 St.
6. At the next intersection, cross straight. You will be crossing 58 Ave.
7. Continue walking straight along 180 St.
8. At the next intersection, cross straight. You will be crossing 57 Ave.
9. Continue walking straight along 180 St.
10. Turn right into the first driveway. You have arrived at your destination. Call us and we’ll meet you.

From Langley Centre

1. Take the 320 Surrey Central bus from Langley Centre.
2. Get off at 60 Ave. and 180 St.
3. When you get off the bus, turn right and walk up 60 Ave.
4. At the first intersection, turn right and cross. You will be crossing 180 St.
5. Turn left and walk along 180 St.
6. At the next intersection, cross straight. You will be crossing 58 Ave.
7. Continue walking straight along 180 St.
8. At the next intersection, cross straight. You will be crossing 57 Ave.
9. Continue walking straight along 180 St.
10. Turn right into the first driveway. You have arrived at your destination. Call us and we’ll meet you.

Schedule

• 12:30 – AGM
• 1:30 – Lunch
• 2:00 – Showdown ternament
• 5:00 – Wrap up

From left to right: Jessica, Peg, and Alex. Jocelyn is sitting in front of Peg.

On Saturday, we had our White Cane Week themed fundraiser at Doc Morgan’s on Bowen Island. Members of the community came out to join us for an evening of live jazz music from Bowen’s own talented Teun Schut Trio, a live auction, and a 50/50 draw. Our door prize, which was one of our new Camp Bowen mugs, was popular. It was lucky we had a second one for the auction. Our banner was on display for the first time.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support us. We would also like to thank Doc Morgan’s for hosting us and providing meals for the band. We would furthermore like to thank the Ruddy Potato, Cocoa West Chocolatier, and the anonymous donors who generously donated items to our auction. We couldn’t do the work we do without your support.

From left to right: Alex, Jessica, and Jocelyn

On Thursday and Saturday of last week, Jessica, Alex, and Jocelyn from here at Camp Bowen had a table at the Snug Cove General Store on Bowen Island. They were selling tickets for the upcoming Camp Bowen fundraiser at Doc Morgan’s this coming Saturday. They were also Brailling names onto bookmarks by donation.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us and say hi. We would also like to thank the Snug Cove General Store and its staff for letting us setup outside the store and for all of their help.

If you haven’t had a chance to purchase tickets for our fundraiser, they can be purchased from Doc’s in advance of the event or at the door. Tickets can also be purchased online.

White Cane Week is February 5-11 and we at Camp Bowen are looking forward to connecting with members of the community. This year, we are involved with three White Cane Week events.

Firstly, we will have a table at the 6th annual White Cane Week event held at Park Royal Shopping centre in North Vancouver. The event will be taking place on February 7 from 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM. Make sure to come say hi and learn more about our programs. Everyone who attends the event will be entered into a draw for a $100 mall gift card.

Secondly, we will be visiting with school children on Bowen Island on February 9 to talk about living with a visual impairment. We will be discussing topics such as Braille, technology, service dogs, and cane travel, as well as having a Q&A session.

Last but certainly not least, we will be holding a White Cane Week themed event and fundraiser at Doc Morgan’s Pub and Grill on Bowen Island on March 11. Come join us for a fun evening of live music and food. There will be an auction, a 50/50 draw, and a door prize, with proceeds supporting our adult, child, and youth camp programs. Doors open at 5:30 PM.

The Camp Bowen Team

Dear Community,

This #GivingTuesday, we desperately need your help!

Please note: In the spirit of #GivingTuesday, which is to harness social media for change, be sure to share this post, even if you are unable to make a donation.

We are the Camp Bowen Society for the Visually Impaired, a Chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind and the non-profit that took over the visually impaired summer camp programs on Bowen Island, BC from CNIB in late 2010. Last year, we were unable to hold child and youth programs because of a funding shortfall. The only reason the adult program was able to run was because several adults were able to help cover the program costs. This was helped by the fact that the adult program has a smaller overhead because it does not require as many resources to run.

We need your help to ensure this valuable program continues. Program costs have risen dramatically and Many of the families we serve often face disability-related expenses, leaving limited income for recreational activities.

Next year, we plan to run child, youth and adult programs, open to all Canadians, and we can only do it with your help.

Please donate to our fundraiser on Canada Helps and help our campers be able to continue to call Camp Bowen their second home. We are in desperate need of donations ahead of the December 31, 2016 deadline for the fundraiser. Whether you can help with one dollar or more, every donation is greatly appreciated.

To donate, visit our fundraising page on Canada Helps

For more information about Camp Bowen or the fundraiser, please visit www.campbowen.ca or call +1 (844) MYBOWEN (692-6936).

Thanks in advance for your support.

Warm regards,

The Camp Bowen Team

Last week, we began working on an 11 month Canada Helps Fundraiser to ensure the continuation of Camp Bowen well into the future. The story has been picked up by several news agencies and has begun receiving its first donations.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Henry ContreraS, Ms. Kristy van den Bosch and our various anonymous donors for their contributions to such an important program. Your donations will help us to make sure that Camp Bowen will be enjoyed by generations to come.

We’d furthermore like to thank CKNW, the 24 Hours newspaper and Global BC, for giving us the chance to share our story. Their various reports are linked to below.

• Bowen Island Camp for Blind Canadians Hoping to Raise Money to Stay Open Year Round by CKNW.
• The article Camp for Visually Impaired on the Rocks by the 24 hours newspaper.
• Bowen Island Camp for Visually Impaired Facing Funding Shortage by Global BC.

We are only 5 days in and there is already a lot of positive excitement building around this campaign. If you’ve been thinking about donating to the project but haven’t yet, now is a great time to do so, by visiting our campaign page. We have a long way to go yet, but if we continue to pull together, we will help build a brighter future for Canadian’s living with visual impairments.

We are very excited to announce that we have just added a new perk to our Indiegogo.com campaign. Together with ASInnovations, our IT provider, we are launching a special “VIP Early Access” program for ASInnovation’s upcoming AirBraille Braille Transcription tool for the Mac. Our own staff members, Soma Ali and Alex Jurgensen, who also founded ASInnovations, will be providing 250 6-month single user VIP licenses in exchange for a donation of $25 towards the Camp Bowen Indiegogo.com campaign we told you about. Funders will get the opportunity to get exclusive access to AirBraille before the service launches in July of this year and get a hand in shaping the future of Braille transcription on the Mac.

We hope that this collaboration will help us gain awareness for the Camp Bowen project, while providing a lucky few with a first glance at where Braille production is headed.