Camp Walden

Staff Packing Guidelines

1.     Walden has no official uniform. Simple, practical and serviceable clothes are all that is required. Staff and campers are requested to cooperate and see that they do not bring too many things with them to camp, especially valuable items of clothing or equipment.

2.     A printable version of the Camper Packing List can be found HERE. There are five "cabin exceptions" to our camper packing list that are permitted for staff: One cabin fan, stereo, electric light and alarm clock powered by one 5 socket power bar extension are permitted. These items are meant to be of benefit to the entire cabin. A sixth exception is as follows: you may bring your personal cell phone to camp - however, you are required to keep it completely hidden from campers at all times.

3.     A printable version of the Camper “What not to pack” List can be found HERE.

4.     As you can see, we set high expectations for our staff to assist us in building a community of safety and respect. On the one hand, we do recognize that staff have different needs than campers. On the other, we hope you will agree that staff should role model the expectations that we have of our campers whenever possible. Please be very careful to pack for camp only those items necessary to fulfill your role effectively. Of course, we expect that all staff will not bring items that pose a safety risk to camp and will fulfill the expectations of the packing list.

5.     Please remember that all staff are responsible for bringing their own blankets, sheets, pillows and pillow cases unless prior arrangements have been made. If you are coming from overseas and would like to make arrangements to use camp bedding, please email Steph at stephanie@campwalden.ca.

6.     Please also remember that you must use no more than two duffle bags for packing your belongings. The use of trunks or bags with heavy wheel apparatuses will not be permitted and will be refused at bus departure. For staff riding the bus and putting bags on the truck, rest assured that all your clothing will join you later that same day.

7.     You do not need food at camp. There is an overwhelming abundance of healthy foods, and treats. If you must bring a small quantity of non-perishable dry goods, please make sure that all food brought to camp not have any nut products in the ingredients. Those products that are labelled as “Safe to Share” should be preferred over those that use language like “may contain traces of nuts”. We recognize that finding foods that are completely “nut free” is becoming increasingly more difficult; however, your added sensitivity when doing camp shopping will have a direct impact on the comfort of our campers and staff that live with this allergy.

8.     A policy that has been around for some time but that we wanted to alert staff in particular to relates to the fact that shelves or furniture of any kind are simply not allowed at camp. Please do not put yourself or your supervisors in an uncomfortable position by sending plastic shelves up to camp. We will continue to actively enforce this policy this summer.