Providing free transportation, meals and a whole slate of outdoor fun to Dowagiac children at just $1 a day, the staff of Fitch E. Root Memorial Camp provide quite a bargain to local children and their parents.

In order to continue offering that spectacular deal to the community requires a lot of funding — and tremendous generosity from donors.

Recently, the foundation dedicated to the operations of the Sister Lakes summer camp received a tremendous boost from the members of the Cass County 100 Women Who Care. The local service organization collected more than $3,000 to donate to Fitch Camp, providing a massive helping hand as the camp winds down another successful year.

The gift is one of the largest in recent memory, said Dave Mahar, president of the Fitch Foundation Board said.

“It is quite a large amount they donated,” Mahar said. “To receive this kind of donation is flattering, and is fabulous news, to say the least.”

The members of the 100 Women Who Care elected to donate to the local summer camp program during their last meeting in July. Following the selection, the women all pitched in to make the large donation possible, said Kim MacGregor, president of the organization.

“I was really excited that Fitch Camp was selected to receive our latest donation,” MacGregor said. “It is a worthy cause. Fitch Camp helps the kids of Dowagiac by giving them a place to play and to learn as well.”

Created in the 1950s, Fitch Camp — which just wrapped up its latest season late last month — provides activities, counseling and companionship to children living in the Dowagiac Union School District.

“Nearly anyone was born and raised here [in Dowagiac] has, at one point, attended the camp and see the benefits it provides,” Mahar said.

However, to provide these benefits requires a lot of capital, as the board has to pay for transportation, meals, supplies and other materials for the day camp. Thankfully donations such as those made by 100 Women Who Care help ease that burden, Mahar said.

The board was also the recent recipient of a nearly $10,000 grant from the Pokagon Fund, with the money being used to perform some renovation work to the camp’s activities court, Mahar said.

Others who wish to donate to Fitch Camp can do so by contacting any of the Fitch Foundation Board members, or by visiting the camp’s Facebook page.