This past weekend news of the H1N1 flu virus was reported about in several newspapers and local news broadcasts. The stories focused on confirmed cases at another camp which is not connected with Friendship Ventures. To reassure you, at Friendship Ventures Georgann Rumsey our Vice President-Programs and Robyn Erickson our Director of Health Care have been working closely with MN Dept. of Health in reviewing procedures and policies to prevent an outbreak of the flu and how to deal with any suspected cases of the flu. Our camp programs will continue as scheduled at all of our locations.

Friendship Ventures focus has always been to protect the health and safety of all children and adults involved in our services.
· Friendship Ventures has been concerned with H1N1 flu since the beginning, and continues to take every precaution to ensure that campers and staff are healthy and safe, while still providing a positive camp experience.
· Friendship Ventures is providing to all parents and caregivers information for screening prior to arrival, best practices to reinforce universal precautions and additional updates as we receive them from the MN Department of Health, CDC updates, Association of Camp Nurses (ACN), and the American Camp Association (ACA) .
· We are staying informed. We are taking precautions outlined by the MN Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and reinforcing best practices such as hand washing, safe sneezing, and site and facility sanitation.
· Friendship Ventures camps are accredited by the ACA which requires accredited camps to have an established procedure in practice to carefully screen for illness, injury, and communicable diseases.