2020 Events Postponed

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Dear UCCI Family –

Labor Day serves as the unofficial end to summer.  The last hurrah “Up North” and then it’s back to school.  Unless it’s 2020.  This year we are stuck in the quagmire of Covid-19.  Mask or no mask?  Face to face or online education?  Quarantine or Open up?  Questions with varying answers.  Anticipatory grief, quarantine fatigue, and fear amplify the stress this virus is causing.  The right things to do are not clear for everyone.

The right thing to do at United Church Camps, Inc. (UCCI) is to postpone events at Cedar Valley, Moon Beach, and Daycholah Center through the end of the year.

Our 2020 events are postponed … out of love and a sense of responsibility for the safety of our community.  The ministry of UCCI has been / is / will be active, alive, and well!  We are tending to and protecting your beautiful sanctuaries until we can safely reunite.  And reunite we will!  Reunite for respite, renewal, and recovery!  Furthermore, when we reunite, we endeavor that finances will not be a barrier to participation.  UCCI is working with our partners at the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ (WCUCC), its four Associations, the Winnebago Presbytery, and other ecumenical settings to prop up the UCCI Scholarship Fund to grant opportunities to feed your soul in abundance after this season of scarcity.

As we have said before, there are many questions to answer before re-opening.  Answers of legality, safety, protocol, timing, etc. Our decisions continue to focus on re-opening Cedar Valley, Moon Beach, and Daycholah Center when we can do so safely! Meanwhile:

  • If you have registered for an event that is cancelled … we will refund your fees, apply them to a future event, or graciously accept them as a donation.
  • If you can make one gift to UCCI this year, make it to the UCCI Fund. We need your help.  No gift is too small or unappreciated.  Maybe you know someone of considerable means that could invest in UCCI and help us eliminate our $2 million in debt?  Please put them in contact with me … we are a great investment!   To assist, the CARES Act, designed to help the nation recover from the pandemic, has five important implications for charitable giving.
    • New Charitable Deduction for Non-Itemizers: Taxpayers who take the standard deduction can nevertheless claim a charitable deduction of up to $300 for cash donations in 2020.
    • Higher Deduction Limits: Individuals will be able to deduct cash gifts in 2020 to the extent of their entire adjusted gross income rather than a cap at 60%.
    • Increased Deduction Limits for Corporations: The contribution limit for corporations has been raised to 25% for cash contributions this year.
    • Required Minimum Distributions Waived: For the year 2020, there will be no mandatory distributions from retirement accounts, thus allowing those accounts to recover. Once they do recover, retirement funds are a tax-wise giving strategy.
    • Waiver of Penalties When Retirement Funds Are Used for Coronavirus Purposes: If you are under the age of 59½ and withdraw money from your retirement plan to cover expenses incurred by you or a family member related to treatment of the coronavirus, the 10% tax penalty will not apply. In the future you may consider a retirement fund gift.
  • Finally, go to our Facebook or Instagram pages and “Like” or “Share” our messages. It really helps in getting our messages out.

Folks this pandemic is here for the long haul.  UCCI will be around longer … loving, supporting, caring, ministering to ALL!  I hope you support our decision to postpone until it is safe to reopen.  I hope you know how much you are missed.   I hope it is safe for you to come back soon.

Peace,
Glenn

Glenn Svetnicka – Executive Director UCCI
glenn@ucci.org