Summer greetings to everyone,

Summertime at Mooseheart brings a whole separate set of activities and duties for the students, the staff and faculty at Mooseheart.

After the successful Graduation ceremonies and celebrations in June our fourteen new graduates have moved on for some summer fun. After their break they will begin preparations for their future educational opportunities being provided for them by the Mooseheart Scholarship Program. In the past five years the program has invested over $500,000 into Mooseheart graduates. Each student is eligible for anywhere from $5,000 to $42,000 in scholarship money depending on their length of time at Mooseheart, their GPA and other established criteria. There are currently thirty-six students still attending colleges and receiving monies from the scholarship fund. This is made possible because of donations from all of you and other Moose members from around the USA and Canada.

As I reported in my last article many of the students will be making summer trips to various locations including Moosehaven, Washington, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Maine before going home for the summer. Ninety-nine percent of the students will get to go home for the summer but about 14-20 students will remain at Mooseheart. This year there will also be several international parents visiting the campus from several different countries. The students that stay on campus will participate in either a summer recreation program or a summer work program. Either way these students will be learning as they are enjoying the summer at Mooseheart.

You might think that this will give the staff and administrators a much-needed vacation from all the students and activities throughout the year. However, this is, unfortunately, not the case. As soon as the kids are gone, they must get to work preparing the campus for the new year. All the homes and many offices are given a deep cleaning. Then they must get to work on plans for where the children will reside when they return to campus. The vacancies left by the fourteen graduating students will be filled with some new students and other students who have aged up will be moved to new homes for older children.

None of this can happen without much thought and planning from the staff. And the summer for them is short as all the students must be back on campus by August 6th to start another year at Mooseheart!

At the Reno International Moose Convention in June, I attended a workshop on Mooseheart conducted by the Executive Director of Mooseheart Gary Urwiler. I thought I would share some interesting facts with you. Gary, himself a graduate of Mooseheart, introduced his friend Frank, also a former Mooseheart graduate. Frank and eight of his siblings were sent to Mooseheart when his parents were both killed in a car accident. Frank graduated from Mooseheart and went on to become a successful contractor and owns a large construction company in Illinois. Frank is currently helping repair the crumbling sewer system on campus. They currently have their own water reclamation plant on site and 4.2 miles of pipe running under the campus which all need to be replaced. Not to mention the 628 toilets and thirty-eight dishwashers at Mooseheart that must be kept in working order. Gary and Frank are just two examples of the success of those who have experienced life at Mooseheart and returned to fulfill their promise, “Enter to Learn and Leave to Serve”. Hats off to these two amazing men.

Until next time, enjoy your summer.

Julie Nelson
Mooseheart Committee Chairman
(714) 267-5772
Jdn4801@sbcgobal.net