Time to Fuel Up
By Hannah O’Briant
August 9, 2019
Campers come to Victory Junction with their dietary restrictions already in the minds of the staff. No allergy will keep a child from having the most memorable week ever at Victory Junction.
It’s Victory Junction’s goal to relieve any worries that parents might have about sending their child to camp. With this in mind, parents are encouraged to submit their child’s allergies or dietary needs prior to their child attending camp. This information gives the staff a heads up for any alterations that need to be made to the camper’s meals. For each camp session Victory Junction employs a team of nutritionists, nicknamed the “NUT” team, to accommodate campers’ dietary restrictions. The NUT team analyzes dietary restrictions, overviews the master menu, researches ingredients, produces solutions for each restriction, and much more. For example, gluten allergies are accommodated by replacing certain ingredients with gluten–free options so that the campers with this dietary restriction can still enjoy similar meals that are healthy and delicious.
“We’ll never turn a camper away based on their dietary restrictions.” Matt Brown, the camp’s kitchen director, said. Matt has been a part of the Victory Junction family since September of 2009.
Matt oversees 17 people on the kitchen staff, along with 3 or 4 different volunteers helping every week to prepare and clean the dining hall. Each camp week the kitchen staff prepares food for 11 separate mealtimes, feeding approximate 280 people per mealtime. On average, Matt and his team produce an astounding 3,000 meals and 1,120 snacks for each camp session.
“We understand that we’re here to serve children so that they can have a blast here at camp.” Matt explained. He is very enthusiastic about giving children a week of relief from any worries they have outside of camp, and he shows that through his commitment in the kitchen. “Working here is just rewarding, and that’s the best way to describe it.”
Providing each camper with the proper nutrition to sustain them throughout the day is a top priority at camp. Even with various dietary restrictions, there will always be substitutions available at camp to ensure that everyone is accommodated appropriately.
Everyone in the Victory Junction family plays a crucial role in keeping camp running smoothly, especially the NUT team and kitchen staff.
