COCA-I Gold Ribbon Camp Program
As the 2012 summer camping season rapidly approaches, it is once again time to examine all of your camp’s rules, regulations, requirements, guidelines and common practices.
COCA-I’s mission is to strengthen the international community of camps for children with cancer and their families through networking, advocacy, education and other resources. We believe the “Suggested COCA-I Guidelines” is an important resource to our members and following these guidelines should be rewarded. These guidelines are being presented as a completely voluntary set of recommended oncology camp standards.
The COCA-I Board of Directors look forward to recognizing member camps who meet the guidelines, however achieving this designation is not a membership requirement.
Beginning June 1, 2012, COCA-I will be accepting lapplciations for the “Gold Ribbon Camp” (GRC) award program.
This is how the Gold Ribbon Camp designation works:
- By June 1, all member camp contacts will receive a copy of the approved set of Suggested COCA Guidelines/Standards. It can also be found in the password protected section of our website.
- There are 6 (six) categories within the Guidelines/Standards and each category has been given a numeric value for scoring purposes.
- Each camp simply has to read each “Guideline/Standard” and check off “Met” or “Unmet” in the adjacent box. Once completed, your Guideline/Standard document will then be voluntarily sent back to the COCA-I Membership Committee for scoring.
- A score of 85% or greater will result in that camp receiving an official COCA-I designation as a Gold Ribbon Camp!
The benefits of being a COCA-I Gold Ribbon Camp are:
- Your COCA-I map “pin” and “camp name” designation on the COCA-I Web Site will turn Gold.
- During the annual conference, you will be honored during an official Gold Ribbon Camp ceremony. You will receive a Gold Ribbon Camp Flag, to be a beautiful addition to your camp flagpole.
- You will be presented with an official COCA-I Gold Ribbon Camp Certificate, signed by the entire Board of Directors and suitable for framing and display in your camp office.
- You will be presented with a Gold Plate, engraved with your camp name and the date you became a Gold Ribbon Camp. This Gold Plate will be permanently mounted on the official COCA-I Gold Ribbon Camp Plaque that will be prominently displayed at each annual conference.
Your completed Guidelines/Standards document must be submitted by August 15th of the current calendar year in order to be considered for GRC status during that year’s conference. You are on the “honor” system. There is no formal COCA-I compliance audit! Your Gold Ribbon Camp designation is granted for life. However, COCA-I will request a letter from each GRC every three years, indicating that their camp is still complying with the Guidelines/Standards they originally designated as “Met.”
We look forward to having fun with this program; helping each member camp provide the best camper experience they can provide and be asupportive Association to our members.