Camping and Education Foundation Staff
Hugh Haller, President
Hugh is the President of the Camping and Education Foundation and Camping and Education, LLC. He spent 20 years in the restaurant business in Chicago, and ten years as the president and co-founder of Webster Management Group, a private commodity trading firm. Hugh began his association first with Wasaka Boy’s Club and later Kooch-i-ching, attending as a camper and staff man in the 1960s and 1970s.
Steve Shook, Director of Development
Steve is the Director of Development for the Camping and Education, LLC. Steve is a Kooch-i-ching alumnus, having attended as both a camper and staff man in the 1970s and 1980s. His son attends Kooch-i-ching and a daughter attends Ogichi Daa Kwe.
Laura Andersen, Business Administration
Laura is a new addition to our camp family and we are happy to have her on board. Laura provides critical support for our development office, manages the needs of our management board and trustees and keeps all of us on our toes with her excellent customer support!
Donna Brown, CFO
Donna has taken over the role of chief financial officer for the organization from Bill Johnson. Among many other things, Donna is responsible for budgeting, forecasting and cash flow analysis for the Foundation; Camping & Education, LLC; Camp Kooch-i-ching and Ogichi Daa Kwe. She has been with the organization since 1999 and works out of our Cincinnati office.
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Kathy Dix, Director, Ogichi Daa Kwe
Kathy is the Director of Ogichi Daa Kwe and has served in that capacity since the fall of 2004, following the Inaugural Canoe trip, when she and the rest of the Founders Committee officially became Ogichi’s Board of Trustees and Ogichi Daa Kwe opened its doors. Kathy served formerly as a trustee of Kooch-i-ching and enjoyed twelve years of having her two sons, Stephen and Jamey, at Kooch. Two of her daughters, Libby and Emily participated in Ogichi’s Inaugural Canoe trip enjoying summers as campers and staff since that time.
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Pam Gaparec, CEF Office Administrator
Pam works in the Cincinnati office where she handles all business administration function relating to camper enrollment and recruiting. She manages our Cincinnati office and keeps all of us in line! Pam has been with the organization for five years.
Steve Heinle, Director of Operations
Steve is the new Director of Operations, overseeing both camps' programming operations. Prior to his current role, Steve served as Kooch-i-ching's Director. He is an alumnus of Kooch-i-ching, having attended as both a camper and staff man in the 1980s.
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Bill Johnson, Sr. Accountant
Bill ("BJ") is the Sr. Accountant for the Camping and Education Foundation and advises Donna with the Foundation’s management company, Camp Kooch-i-ching and Camp Ogichi Daa Kwe. In addition, during the summer, BJ is the Assistant Director for Administration and Finance for Camp Kooch-i-ching. He supervises the camp office, camp store, post office and camper travel arrangement operations. Bj's first year at Kooch-i-ching was in 1949 as a 15-year old Intermediate camper and he has only missed one summer at Deer Island over the last 60+ years. BJ will be turning over the CFO reigns this year to Donna Brown but will continue to serve the organization both in the summer and the off season as Donna plans to keep him close by for a long time!
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Campbell Jolly, Director, Communications and Marketing
Campbell oversees all communication and marketing functions for the Camping and Education Foundation, including our publications, the North Wind, Tumpline and Songs of the Paddle. She maintains the foundation websites, takes the in-camp pictures you see on our website galleries and serves as the organization's primary IT support. Campbell came to Camp Kooch-i-ching with husband John in the summer of 1997 when their children were camper age. As you can probably guess, Cam is excellent at wearing a lot of hats, juggling many balls and jumping through hoops, a skill she learned from her husband John.
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J.R. Verkamp, Director, Camp Kooch-i-ching
JR Verkamp started his Kooch-i-ching career at age 9. Working his way through all camper age divisions and most staff positions, JR took on the role of Associate Director in 2006. JR and his wife Tenney live in Cincinnati with their three beautiful daughters Sidney, Charlotte, Greta and dog Wrigley.
