Having leaders for this trip is absolutely crucial. It can be hard to find adults year after year that will not just see this trip as a personal vacation, but see this trip as an investment in the spiritual journeys of the teens that are participating. Because the adult leaders are making such a quality investment in our students, we try to invest in them if they need financial help to make this happen. Having these leaders is VITAL to the trip, and by offering to to give our leaders a 50% discount (if they request the financial help) is HUGE to getting the quality leadership we need that will help our students get the most out of these trips.
We do try to figure in some of these costs into the $550 registration fee we charge each student, but if we were to figure in all of the extra cost into each students fee, then the per-student cost would start to exceed what is affordable for families. Overall this year, we need approximately $1500 in Leadership Fees to keep our per-student cost at $550.
$800 of this Leadership cost will be or us to rent 15 passenger van. This trip is the biggest we've ever sent, and I'm super-pumped to see 25 people going! But to make this work instead of take three, or even four separate vehicles, we definitely need to rent a van.
The other $700 will go to helping pay for gas. We've learned that each summer we spend a ballpark of $1200 on gas for the 1300 mile round trip.
Helping pay towards these two causes may not seem as personally meaningful as helping the financial needs of a specific student. However, by choosing to help with these Leadership Needs, you're actually helping every single student participating in this trip by keeping their overall costs at a manageable level.
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