100 Women chapter donates to Camp Childress

The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·2 min read

Feb. 15—The local chapter of 100 Women Who Care this week presented a donation of $3,900 to Camp Childress. The money will be used to build and renovate restrooms at the camp.

Camp Childress is now a nonprofit charitable organization and an outdoor camping reserve south of Joplin open to youth groups, adults, service agencies and families. It is also still serving local Scouting organizations. Its stated mission is "to prepare young adults to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetime and build the foundations for humility and compassion, strengthen character in actions and education, and to prepare youth for a lifetime of leadership."

Camp Childress is the former Frank Childress Scout Reservation. The Ozark Trails Council announced last fall that it had sold the reservation to the Frank Childress Reserve Properties Committee, a newly formed not-for-profit organization. In a statement at the time, Ozark Trails Council leadership said that it "recognized that owning and operating four camp properties was no longer financially feasible and made the decision to sell."

A group of Scout volunteers organized a not-for-profit that purchased the camp and now operates it as Camp Childress.

The camp holds 175 wooded acres and includes a pool, climate-controlled dining hall, a commercial kitchen, cabins, hiking trails, campsites and a trout fishing pond.

Eric DeGruson, chairman of the Frank Childress Reserve Properties Committee, and others who formed the group said last fall that they set a goal of raising $1.2 million to pay off the purchase and to build an air-conditioned bunkhouse and make a number of other needed improvements to the site.

100 Women Who Care is an international organization of women who gather four times a year for a one-hour meeting to learn about local charities; each donates $100 to a charity that the group selects.

The Jasper/Newton chapter was formed in April 2018 and so far has given more then $64,000 to local charities.

The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at the Joplin Public Library, in person as well as through Zoom. The three local charities that will present are RAISE, Medical Loan Closet and the Washington Family Hope Center.

For more information on 100 Women Who Care, email 100wwcjn@gmail. com, visit the 100 Women Who Care Jasper/Newton chapter Facebook page or call 417-529-3682.

Camp Childress is located just east of the interchange of Route V and Interstate 49 in Newton County.

For more information on Camp Childress, go to www.campchildress.com.