COVID-19 | Latest Updates

*** UPDATE AS OF May 24, 2020 ****

2020 SUMMER CAMPS | CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19

To all our families,

First, I want to start off by thanking you all for your continued support, patience, and understanding during this difficult time. I’ve always said we’ve had the greatest families at our camp and this was even more evident during this extraordinary time.

After much thoughtful consideration, and given the uncertainty of current conditions with regards to COVID-19, we have come to the difficult decision that we will be cancelling all summer camps for 2020. The health and well-being of our camp community continues to be our highest priority.

These past few weeks have been extremely difficult and a rollercoaster of emotions. With this final decision, it is a strong understatement to tell you how disappointed I am.

• I am disappointed for all the kids that look forward to these camps all year.  This summer, they won’t have a chance to get passionate about a new hobby that they can use to express themselves creatively in the digital world.

• I am disappointed that all the staff that we have grown to love like family will lose their summer work opportunity and will not have a chance to bond with their coworkers or put a smile on their campers’ faces.

• I am disappointed that the parents and families we have gotten to know over the years, will not have our support to carry them through these difficult weeks of working and juggling home schooling. I have seen this firsthand and I know it’s tough!

I am truly saddened by this decision, but I am confident that it is the right decision for our camp as a whole.

Registration Fees  We will be issuing refunds for all summer camp registrations as described below:

We do have to be open and honest with our customers that this pandemic has put us in a very difficult financial position. From the moment camp ends at the end of August, we are planning for the following year in the form of program development, software development and overall improvements to make your camp experience even better the following summer. Other than the salaries for camp instructors, the majority of our expenses are actually incurred throughout the year in the form of salaries, rent, accounting, insurance, advertising, software and more. The vast majority of our revenue however, is earned in the summer months.

This pandemic has changed the situation overnight and has had a detrimental effect on our school. The impact is not only a loss of a full year’s revenue, but an additional loss in the amounts we have already invested for 2020. It puts us in an extremely difficult position because we have been proactively spending throughout the year, lost the opportunity to earn 80% of our revenue, and are now facing having to wait a full year before we have a chance to earn income again.  We had to temporarily layoff all of our admin staff, freeze all expenses, and even with these drastic measures, we are short.

Regardless of our position, we put our families first and are committed to offer refunds to all of our customers.

• We are overwhelmed with the generosity of our families.  So many have offered to donate a portion of their registration fee. If you have appreciated your time at GTA Photography over the years and are willing to make a donation this would help us tremendously and go towards covering our losses for 2020. We realize these are difficult times for many of us, so if you are not in a position to donate, we understand! *Please note that donations are not tax deductible, as we are a for-profit organization.

Refund Process: For all those already registered, please refer to your emails for registration fee refund instructions. 

To Our Campers:  I want to close with a message to our campers:

We will truly miss you this summer!  We are so sorry that we won’t get to see both the familiar and new faces to our camp.  Some of you may have been new to us just last year, and some of you have been coming for years and taken all our programs.  We have had numerous emails from campers reaching out, asking what will happen this year. Your passion is infectious and you are the reason we continued to develop more programs year after year.

I wish we had a different answer for you.  I wish we could tell you there was some magical way we could make it all happen, but unfortunately despite our best efforts, it’s just not possible.  Stay positive this summer as we get through this difficult time. Stay connected with your friends and family, and know that physical distancing does not mean disconnecting from the people we love.

Thank you for all your enthusiasm in making our camping community so unique and wonderful.  You will all be missed and in our hearts this summer!

Ana Belic
President / Executive Camp Director

ADULT CLASSES: All adult classes have been moved to online classes until further notice.