As a non-profit organisation, Camp Quality relies on the support of volunteers and generous organisations to organise our camps and ensure that kids battling cancer have a week of fun and adventure.  

2020 has been a tough year for all of us, and we put the call out to our community to help us organise some special camps for our campers this summer as part of our ‘Make Camp Happen’ campaign.  

We had some awesome responses, with past and current members of our Camp Quality community raising invaluable funds for our kids. One special contribution came from Kirk Bakker and his team at C3 Construction, who kindly chose to entirely sponsor a child to attend our upcoming summer and winter camps. Kirk, who spent time as a companion in his youth, wanted to ensure that kids heading to camps in 2021 have the same great experiences as previous generations of Camp Quality kids.  

Time as a companion  

Kirk first became a companion with Camp Quality Auckland when he was 18 years old. A friend of his had previously been a camper, and convinced Kirk and a few other mates to come along and give it a go. Kirk loved it so much he ended up coming back for 5 more summers! He even got his brother along – who actually met his wife, a fellow companion, at camp!  

“It was always great to leave the world behind for a week and get to feel like a child again!” Kirk recalls. “It was such a pleasure to meet all the amazing kids and just have an unbelievable amount of fun with them for a few days.”  

After a few years, Kirk ended up moving overseas and couldn’t commit to his regular time as a companion. As time went by, he returned to New Zealand and set up C3 Construction with his two business partners, Tamati and Mike.   

Choosing to support Camp Quality  

Between the three of them, the founders of C3 are quite a socially conscious bunch. They’re all committed to giving back to their community – whether it’s sponsoring a BOP youth boxing non-for-profit, Keystone property scholarship for underprivileged kids, or the Ronald McDonald House. Kirk had been looking for something to help out with – which is where Camp Quality came back into the picture.  

“My sister in law, Bronwynn, is still involved with camp, and mentioned to me that they were looking for more companions for the upcoming summer season,” says Kirk.  

“Unfortunately, with two kids under the age of two at home, I couldn’t realistically spend too much time away from them!”  

After later finding out that Camp Quality were also seeking donations in order to ensure camps went ahead as part of our ‘Make Camp Happen’ campaign, Kirk immediately knew how he could give back to an organisation he loves. C3 went above and beyond, choosing to entirely sponsor a Camp Quality kid to ensure they got to enjoy both summer and winter camps.  

“We really just wanted to make sure that kids this year got the same opportunities at camp as my companion buddies did years ago,” says Kirk. “Having seen how much happiness camp gives these kids who are going through unbelievably tough times – it was a no brainer really.”

Ensuring all kids get to camp this summer and beyond  

“It’s certainly been a tough year for local businesses, but at the same time it’s been even tougher on non-profits and organisations that rely on local support,” says Kirk. “We felt that sponsoring a child to attend summer and winter camps was an awesome way to help out an organisation that needs the support right now.”  

“When I heard that summer camps might not have happened this year, I immediately knew I had to do what I could. I’ve seen the incredible impact that camp can have on kids battling cancer, and couldn’t stand the thought of kids going without it this year.”  

We’re so grateful for Kirk and the team at C3 Construction for choosing to support Camp Quality in such a generous way. Thanks again guys for your unbelievable generosity!  

Are you or your organisation interested in sponsoring a child to attend camp like Kirk and C3 Construction have? We would gladly welcome your support! Get in touch with our General Manager, Dave, to find out how you might be able to help – email at dave@campquality.org.nz or phone 027 747 4006.