A letter from Kasey Wilson, EdD
Camp Cedar Ridge Executive Director

The Great Bug Out Emergency Fund Raiser

Dear Friends:

We are reaching out to you as some of our closest supporters to ask you to help us face an emergent challenge.  Someone has brought bed bugs to the upper ground which is our most “adult-friendly” space.  This has caused us to close for 10 days which will result in lost or delayed revenue, but the biggest challenge is that the cost for the bed bug mitigation is $25,000 and we are raising that in about two weeks. 

We have recently committed to a project that we have been wanting to do for the last three years, which is the establishment of a community center in Vernonia. We have taken over a small restaurant space and we plan to operate it in the afternoon and evenings as a Community Center. In the mornings we will operate it as a diner for breakfast, lunch and baked goods in order to pay the overhead on the project. While we have solid plan for the year and our expansion, it was not “unexpected $25,000 expense” proof.  

I know that this is for the Good and we will Discover it.  There are many positives that I can see already-for example this occurred one week before Spring Break when we already had a 5-day break in the schedule, effectively giving us two weeks to solve the problem. It happened when we are less busy, allowing us to both mitigate the current problem and develop new protocols to prevent this happening in the future.  Hindsight says that we could have implemented new procedures earlier, but in four years, we hadn’t faced this before (we had one small incident in a bunkhouse last year but it was relatively minor), and there have been issues to deal with in front of us that took priority over things that might happen.  There have been many times when an unexpected repair or expense has occurred, and we could see that the timing was so much better than it could have been and I have complete faith that this is protecting us for the future. We can do this and be stronger because of it.  I ask you to joining me in sowing into the field, a swift and complete successful conclusion of this issue and the successful launch of our newest project, Vernonia Commons Community Center and the Cookhouse.  I can’t wait to see and name the blessing that this will turn out be for our community.  

Please consider donating and sharing this with others.  Let’s see what we can do together. Tracy Brown reminded me of Ernest Holmes, “There is no big or small in the Universal Mind. And there is no delay required for demonstration. There is nothing that Life could possibly withhold from its creation since it has poured its imagination and thought and feeling into everything and spilled it over. The ocean of Life is forever flowing; we could just as well dip a gallon of water instead of a pint from it.”

Our GoFundMe is https://gofund.me/bf9fbcd95

The direct link to donate to CCR (no fees) is Camp Cedar Ridge

Our Venmo is @campcedarridgeor

Tomorrow (March 16, 2026), I will be one of the speakers during the Connection Call (already planned prior to this-divine timing) and this is the video that we prepared for that meeting CCR video for the CSL Connection Call. You are welcome to use this to communicate to others about the “Why” of supporting our work.  

I am also attaching memes, that can be shared. We will update the thermometer daily.  Time is of the essence, so if some of you could share with your congregations as early as today, I know that this will help.  There are still so many New Thought communities who do not know about us.  If everyone would reach out to one friend in a community with which we are not yet connected, that in itself would be a great magnifier! Tomorrow, I will be one of the speakers during the Connection Call (already planned prior to this-divine timing) and this is the video that we prepared for that meeting CCR video for the CSL Connection Call. You are welcome to use this to communicate to others about the “Why” of supporting our work.  

I am also attaching memes, that can be shared. We will update the thermometer daily.  Time is of the essence, so if some of you could share with your congregations as early as today, I know that this will help.  There are still so many New Thought communities who do not know about us.  If everyone would reach out to one friend in a community with which we are not yet connected, that in itself would be a great magnifier! 

Thank you to Michelle Geyer, who has produced the memes and the GoFundMe page in record time, and Suni Gayle who is in the process of moving to Oregon to join our team, but still found time in her packing to produce this video for us on short notice. Thank you to our Board, who are a constant support (Rev. Stephen Rambo, Rev. Steve Gabrielson, Charlie McClung and Steve Burton. Tracy Brown is on leave while she is on the Leadership Council ) and to each of you for all of your generosity and support.  There is no CCR are without your prayer, support and trust. 

With Love and  Gratitude, 

Kasey