In 2025, Camp Cadiz will be celebrating its 15th year of worship, collaboration and community service to Trigg County — and this servant leadership has changed immensely over the years.
What began as a humble, thoughtful ministry through Jason Strickland and some local youths has now expanded to handfuls of adult leaders, young adults and students taking one week of their summer — some of them sacrificing vacation time, and their own money — to give back to those most in need.
During Tuesday’s Cadiz Rotary Club meeting, organizers and spokeswomen Andrea Hampton and Becky Joe Marlowe noted typical efforts involve everything from yard work, to wooden stained handicap ramps and porches, to hot meals, to nursing home visits, to witnessing — with “no” hardly the answer.
Things like roof repair, outbuilding construction and inside home renovations are mostly out of the question, due to liability, needed craftsmanship, expenses and time required — but even then, Hampton and Marlowe said they could likely refer individuals to proper contractors for such tasks.
Hampton said more than 3,500 hot meals have been served in the last five-to-six years, while more than 40 found salvation, and one student was called to parishioner.
And it was all those years ago when she got hooked to the mission, after taking breakfast out to the students.
Since 2018, at least $12,000 has been spent before and during Camp Cadiz. More than $25,000 was spent in 2022, and more than $16,000 was spent this past summer — when more than 90 children and adults joined efforts.
In order to offset costs in the last 12 months, churches donated more than $9,400, more than $2,300 came from community organizations, and more than $1,700 came from miscellaneous and anonymous offerings.
This $3,000 deficit, Hampton said, will be made up through carryover funding from previous years — and perhaps other incoming future donations.
Meanwhile, aside from the usual manpower, cash and supply donations needed each year, Hampton said a shower trailer — either pre-built or locally crafted — would be a dream come true for the program.
Hampton and Marlowe said other forms of assistance are also appreciated. And this could be anything from commitments to chaperone late evening gatherings, offering to wash clothes and dishes used throughout the week, or just simply jumping in to help deliver meals across Trigg County in a timely manner.
Marlowe said a new leadership development program is taking root, too, and just in time for next year’s “homecoming” and reflection of growth.
Over the years, Hampton and Marlowe said other counties have contacted Camp Cadiz dignitaries, trying to figure out ways to implement similar programs in their own — while students from other communities have chosen to visit friends and family, and join in on the non-denominational conclave.
