Tipping Camp Counselors

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's because I grew up low income and have worked since I was 11, but that sounds great. And doing your own laundry, the horror! Lol

[Anonymous]

Sis worked at a camp while in college and during the second or third year was glad to be transferred to the housekeeping staff she had requested. Everyone requested that because people would tip the housekeepers but not the counselors, lol.

[Anonymous]

My DCs have attended a lot of camps. We’ve only tipped once and that at an overnight horse camp. The college girl was not paid, but was allowed to keep her horse at the camp for free. She only accepted the position because she was not allowed home. We felt bad for her, so we tipped her.

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's because I grew up low income and have worked since I was 11, but that sounds great. And doing your own laundry, the horror! Lol

It's a money issue, not that it is hard to do laundry.

[Anonymous]

Counselors at sleep away camp make very little money. It is not a job you take to earn lots of cash. It's because you love kids and the outdoors and the camp. I went away to the same camp for a month every summer until I was aged out of being a camper. I lived it and would have liked being a couselor but I had to make my extra spending money for college in the summer. It was the one thing my parents did not pay for and an overnight counselor's salary would have lasted about half a semester. I got office jobs and waitressing jobs and lived at home (free room and board and laundry there too!).

I am OP and this was why I was thinking of tipping my kids' cabin counselor. It is not an easy job, especially not easy to stay nice and cheerful and enthusiastic when you have a bunch of kids to make sure shower and brush their teeth every day, go to sleep at lights out, write updates to parents, and make clean the cabin every morning. Then you still have to do your activity and supervise meals too with only one day off a week. Heck, residential camps are fairly pricey (most well over $1,000 per month) so I thought the least I could do was thank my kids awesome, college-aged counselors by giving them a few bucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's because I grew up low income and have worked since I was 11, but that sounds great. And doing your own laundry, the horror! Lol

It's a money issue, not that it is hard to do laundry.

$5-10 of quarters a week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone ever tip their child's camp counselor? In particular I am thinking about sleep away camps. My kids went away for the first time this summer and their cabin counselors were amazing. My son's in particular wrote us great letters every week and my son adored him. I went to sleep away camp too but I doubt my parents would have ever even that to tip our counselors, they aren't big "tippers" in general. Thoughts? Experience?

I was a counselor at a somewhat expensive (for the time) sleep away camp in the late 80's.

Tipping of good counselors was really really appreciated then (anywhere up to $100 for a 4-week stint) as I'm sure it is now.

And to a pp, this is not some new trend.

DS currently attends a local weekly camp.
He provides his counselor with a $10 starbucks card at the end of the week if he's had a enjoyable week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Counselors at sleep away camp make very little money. It is not a job you take to earn lots of cash. It's because you love kids and the outdoors and the camp. I went away to the same camp for a month every summer until I was aged out of being a camper. I lived it and would have liked being a couselor but I had to make my extra spending money for college in the summer. It was the one thing my parents did not pay for and an overnight counselor's salary would have lasted about half a semester. I got office jobs and waitressing jobs and lived at home (free room and board and laundry there too!).

I am OP and this was why I was thinking of tipping my kids' cabin counselor. It is not an easy job, especially not easy to stay nice and cheerful and enthusiastic when you have a bunch of kids to make sure shower and brush their teeth every day, go to sleep at lights out, write updates to parents, and make clean the cabin every morning. Then you still have to do your activity and supervise meals too with only one day off a week. Heck, residential camps are fairly pricey (most well over $1,000 per month) so I thought the least I could do was thank my kids awesome, college-aged counselors by giving them a few bucks.

This is 11:55. Please do so. I think I made $500-600 for the entire summer (room and board of course) but I loved working at the camp and the tips really helped out as far as summer earnings went.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Counselors at sleep away camp make very little money. It is not a job you take to earn lots of cash. It's because you love kids and the outdoors and the camp. I went away to the same camp for a month every summer until I was aged out of being a camper. I lived it and would have liked being a couselor but I had to make my extra spending money for college in the summer. It was the one thing my parents did not pay for and an overnight counselor's salary would have lasted about half a semester. I got office jobs and waitressing jobs and lived at home (free room and board and laundry there too!).

I am OP and this was why I was thinking of tipping my kids' cabin counselor. It is not an easy job, especially not easy to stay nice and cheerful and enthusiastic when you have a bunch of kids to make sure shower and brush their teeth every day, go to sleep at lights out, write updates to parents, and make clean the cabin every morning. Then you still have to do your activity and supervise meals too with only one day off a week. Heck, residential camps are fairly pricey (most well over $1,000 per month) so I thought the least I could do was thank my kids awesome, college-aged counselors by giving them a few bucks.

I meant " Well over $1,000.00 per WEEK!"

My kids' camp costs around $5,000 for 4 weeks and I know, from looking at various camps along the East Coast, there are much more expensive camps out there.

[Anonymous]

I would like to tip but my sons group had 7 counselors...is $10 each enough?

[Anonymous]

Definitely tip. These poor high school and college kids barely make minimum wage all summer and they work so hard taking care of your kids. If you can afford to send your kids to camp, can't you afford a few extra bucks to show your appreciation? My daughter went to 4 weeks of day camp this summer and we gave her counselors 20 dollars each in a thank you note. They were very appreciative.

I don't get why people are so against tipping... you wouldn't think of leaving a restaurant without tipping and waiters and waitresses barely make any money... so why would you not want to tip someone who is taking care of your child all day for the summer?

[Anonymous]

We would tip the counselors that worked closely with our own kids - somewhere between 10 & 25 bucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would like to tip but my sons group had 7 counselors...is $10 each enough?

It is thought. If there were 1 or 2 counselors he was closer to, I might give them a little more.