The safety of our campers and their families, program participants, visitors, and staff remains our top priority. We will continue to uphold COVID-19 safety guidelines from the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health. We appreciate your care and respect for your fellow guests on the mountain as we continue to work together to maintain the safest environment possible.Your camping staff team will continue to monitor the situation within our facilities, as well as incorporate guidance from the CDC and the Commonwealth to make adjustments as needed. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we continue to navigate these challenging waters.
These practices will be updated throughout the year to ensure the best possible experience for all of our campers, families, schools, and visitor groups. Please check with camp staff prior to arrival to verify current pick-up and drop-off procedures. If you have any questions, please call Camp at 610-670-2267.
Update May 14
On 5/13, the CDC announced that individuals fully vaccinated for COVID-19 no longer need to wear a mask while indoors. Shortly after the CDC announcement, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced that effective immediately, anyone fully vaccinated for COVID-19 is not subject to the state Mask Order, which remains in effect until 70 percent of Pennsylvanians are vaccinated.
In accordance with this announcement, beginning Friday, May 14, some program participants and the staff of The South Mountain YMCA Camps who are fully vaccinated may utilize our facilities and participate in programs without a face mask. Programs that include large crowds, particularly indoors, may still require masks on our campus for all participants. Additionally, our programs with children (the vast majority of whom are unvaccinated), will still require masks when we are operating indoors or are outdoors and unable to maintain an appropriate physical distance.
Fully vaccinated is defined as:
• 2 weeks after the second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
• 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
• If you do not meet the above requirements, you are not considered fully vaccinated and therefore are required to continue to wear a mask when inside a YMCA facility and when outdoors on our grounds when social distancing cannot be maintained. We are counting on the integrity of our Camp community to follow this guidance based on their vaccination status. We are counting on our families, their campers, and our other guests to model our YMCA core value of Honesty.
In honoring our YMCA core value of Respect, please remember individuals may continue to wear a mask because they are mid-vaccine or as an extra precaution. If you have any questions regarding the mask order while accessing the campus or programs, please give us a call at 610-670-2267 or reach out via email on a contact form or using ycamps@smymca.org.
Pandemic Approach & PhilosophyAs circumstances surrounding the on-going pandemic evolve, we consistently work to comply with guidance from the CDC and WHO, as well as state and local governments.
As is always the case, we are working to keep all of our campers, families, schools, and other visitors safe.
Camp staff are utilizing multiple resources to plan and operate a safe camp: The American Camp Association, the YMCA of the USA, Association of Camp Nurses, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. If you have any questions about our approach or procedures, please call us at 610-670-2267.
- Prior to attending Camp programs, participants will need to log temperatures and symptoms for 10 days.
- Campers will be temperature checked upon arrival and complete a health screening.
- Isolation rooms and spaces have been identified, but sick campers, staff, & visitors will need to leave the site immediately.
Please note, specific instructions for check-in, check-out, mask guidance, vaccinations, and testing protocols for summer camp programs will be shared by the camping directors by May 24.
Camp staff are responsible for ensuring that participants adhere to all applicable state laws, mandates, and guidelines.
- Operating the Dining Hall at a lower capacity when we are unable to eat outside.
- Campers & visitors will be asked to remain with the same cohorts for living, dining, & program.
- Registration is going paperless. All registration and health forms will need to be completed online or by calling the office.
- Check-in will be largely “touchless,” and families may need to remain with their cars.
- If your program at the South Mountain YMCA Camps is cancelled by us, or by the state or federal government, we will refund you.
The group leader is responsible for ensuring that participants adhere to all applicable state laws, mandates, and guidelines:
- Recommend smaller capacities in cabins and alternate “head to toe” in bunks to allow.
- Campers & visitors will be asked to remain with the same cohorts for living, dining, & program.
- If your program at the South Mountain YMCA Camps is cancelled by us, or by the state or federal government, we will refund you.
Before we offer any program, we will have evaluated it for safe and sanitary conditions. In 2021, we will also be:
- Utilizing masks when indoors or when physical distance of 6’ is impossible, as long as that is the recommendation of the CDC.
- Moving as many programs outside as possible.
- Providing additional wash or sanitizing “dip” stations at each program.
- Continuing “cohort” mentality for adult and youth groups on our site.
In addition to additional sanitizing stations and new cleaning protocols, we are prepared to:
- Operate the Dining Hall at a lower capacity when we are unable to eat outside.
- Serve meals in villages or other locations.
- Ask campers & visitors to remain with the same cohorts for living, dining, & program.
In addition to increased cleaning and sanitizing, we are prepared to:
- Reduce the number of beds in our cabins from 14 to 8, allowing 6’ between bunks.
- Ask campers & visitors to remain with the same cohorts for living, dining, & program.