Help us create a larger community

Please take a few moments to read the following thoughts from one of our day volunteers, a high school student named Tanner, who described Camphill Kimberton in a college admissions essay:

Tanner

Heat bakes the area around my feet as I reach through the spiny leaves surrounding the cucumbers. Dirt covers my clothing and cakes under my fingernails. Although the conditions are harsh, the fields of plants continue to grow with vigor. The smells of ripening vegetables permeate the air. These mid-July farm conditions may not sound like a place where one might find contentment but the experience has served me well, heightening my respect for others and reaffirming my appreciation for the opportunities I have.  My sense of awareness, both in my role on the farm and in my maturity, put me at ease here.  

I volunteer at the garden that is the nucleus of Camphill Kimberton. While working, I ponder what life must be like for a farmer who battles these conditions to earn a living.  A farmer’s life is harsh; yet, he labors tirelessly and takes pride in his effort to benefit his family and community. While I shuffle on my knees in search of the last fresh tomato of the day, I am thankful for the experience that is so different from my own routine.  

Working here nurtures my respect for others, including one of the villagers, Andy. Andy has worked and lived at Camphill Kimberton for 34 years. His dedication is extraordinary. The farm means everything to him and offers him a complete sense of pride and purpose. I regularly work beside Andy and help him with various tasks. He makes me genuinely happy with his humor and overall work ethic. It is fulfilling to work at Camphill Kimberton because I am helping to sustain the Village’s mission.  I am rewarded by the positive feeling of sharing myself with people like Andy. I enjoy teaching, laughing with, and being a friend to the villagers.  In these relationships and while toiling under adverse conditions, I feel a growing maturity in which I truly appreciate my opportunities.  Working alongside dedicated villagers such as Andy is a privilege and one in which I intend to continue.  

Andy

More than 200 day volunteers, like Tanner, regularly work with us each year.  When we are asked, “how many people do you serve?” our answer is always a long one, because we don’t serve anyone; we all work together, with friends, neighbors and volunteers.  We do this with uncommon care and attention, while at the same time making it possible for all who come in contact with Camphill Kimberton to benefit in many ways.

Know that your financial support not only helps the lives of those who live in the village, but it helps to create a larger community. The impact of that is immeasurable.

Please help to make this possible with your contribution to our Village Support Fund – your gift will inspire and enrich many lives.  25% of our annual operating budget - which finances our workshop and household needs - is raised through charitable donations.  To make a secure, online contribution, please click here. Thank you!

Camphill Kimberton's Wish List

When thinking about ways to contribute either on #GivingTuesday or throughout the holiday season, consider making an in-kind gift to Camphill Kimberton.  There are many items which our households and workshops can use, and perhaps you are no longer using or you might want to purchase new as a contribution.

Please see the list below.  To donate any of these items, please contact Bernadette@camphillkimberton.org.  Thank you for your continued support!

Household Wish List

• outdoor patio set
• a picnic table or other outside table
• dining room table plus chairs (12)
• new eco-friendly frying pans or woks
• placemats and napkins
• toaster
• toaster oven
• pressure canner
• large food processor
• new bath towels and hand towels
• a large area rug
• other smaller area rugs
• vacuum cleaner
• garden cart
• rakes
• brooms
• gardening equipment
• trash cans and recycling bins
• massage chair
• acoustic guitar
• tipi or yurt
• wheelchair
• canoe

Workshop Wish List

• wheelbarrows
• garden carts
• wooden bushel apple boxes
• long handled clippers (loppers)
• leather gloves
• servicing for hand bells
• hand tools
• lawn mower

In Memoriam: Herbert Kurt Wolf

Herbert Wolf died peacefully the morning of October 25, 2013 in Serena House, with coworker Justin by his side.

Herbert was born on May 14, 1936, in Frankfort, Germany. During the war, his father was taken to Auschwitz and later his family emigrated to the United States. Herbie himself suffered through many bombing raids, and one to his school left him with an injury that was to significantly alter his life. After his father died, he began to have an unsatisfactory life in New York City.

His mother found Camphill through the Christian Community. After meeting Hubert Zipperlen, Herbie came to live in Kimberton Hills—the year was 1975. There he met friends who would accompany him through many wonderful years—Eva—his girlfriend, who as Herbie said, he sometimes argued with, but they always made up—and Herta, for whom Herbie had such deep gratitude. Andrew Hoy, Carrie and George Riley (now Carrie Schuchard), Helen, Sherry, and many other village friends laughed with him, helped him when he became legally blind, and benefited from his vegetable cutting (he could cut onions without crying!).


He was among the first residents of Serena House, accompanying Karen Arthur, Debra Falkenberg, John Gardener, Ed Patyk, Sabine Bertsche, Eleanor Shartle, Regina Vaughan and others. Herbie made friends with young coworkers and formed deep and lasting relationships with many of them, particularly when they could speak German and liked sports! Herbert and Bob Hollenbach, former Board member, had a very special relationship. Bob and Herbie regularly visited Philadelphia together. Kenneth Loesberg, Herbie’s dentist, recognized that Herbie was reluctant to retry a cataract operation after the first one was not successful, and found a new doctor for him. Herbie agreed to give it one more try, and this time his vision was significantly improved.  Herbie also had special friendships with many other day volunteers.

Herbert remains in our hearts as a dedicated Camphiller, a comedian, and a man of great heart and spirit.

Camphill Kimberton is proud to join #GivingTuesday

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills is proud to announce we have joined #GivingTuesday, a first of its kind effort that will harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners—charities, families, businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving Holiday and the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, #GivingTuesday will inspire people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they support and help create a better world.

Taking place December 3, 2013 – the Tuesday after Thanksgiving – #GivingTuesday will harness the power of social media to create a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days that are, today, synonymous with holiday shopping.

If you make a contribution to Camphill Kimberton on December 3 or donate your time and energy to an important cause on December 3, we ask you to dedicate it in honor of someone special in your life. Let us know through Facebook or Twitter, or email bernadette@camphillkimberton.org and in celebration of #GivingTuesday, Camphill Kimberton will send a holiday greeting to your honoree - helping to spread the joy of giving.

Click here to make your gift: www.camphillkimberton.org/giving.

And why not spread the word about the good you have done?

If you want to become a part of Camphill Kimberton's #GivingTuesday initiative, visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CamphillVillageKimbertonHills or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cvkh.  We ask you to share our message, reach out to family and friends, and support this movement while supporting Camphill Kimberton.

Thank you for your support!

For more details about the #GivingTuesday movement, visit the #GivingTuesday website (www.givingtuesday.org), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday) or follow #GivingTuesday (https://twitter.com/GivingTues) on Twitter.

Camphill Kimberton part of PASA's Good Gifts Guide

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills is proud to be a part of the Good Gifts Guide, a holiday shopping guide from our friends at the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture (PASA).

As a service to their members, PASA created an online holiday shopping guide to promote fellow members and the variety of goods and services they offer. Take a look, we think there is something for everyone!

Camphill Kimberton's craft shop, which sells items handmade in our workshops, is open from Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Items include:

from our weavery - scarves, hats, capes, table runners
from our fiber arts workshop - silk scarves, felted dryer balls, felted accessories
from our pottery - mugs, vases, bowls, plates, ornaments
from our herb garden - tea, culinary herb blends, lavender gifts

and many more items, including biodynamic planting calendars, honey, knit animals and dolls, seat cushions, drop spindles, and woolen angels.

We hope you'll stop by to visit and shop.  Happy Holidays!

7th Annual Camphill Challenge - a success!

Over 400 cyclists took the Camphill Challenge on October 20, 2013!

Our 7th annual Camphill Challenge bike ride was once again blessed with incredible weather, dedicated volunteers, and inspired cyclists.  Funds raised by the event make a huge difference in the lives of children, youth, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Camphill Special School, Camphill Soltane, and Camphill Village Kimberton Hills.

Click here to check out more photos from the event.

Special thanks to:

All of our generous sponsors

Kimberton Waldorf School for hosting the ride

Iron Town Cycles for providing roving riders

EMS Collegeville and Phoenix Cycles for their SAG support

Twice Baked for providing great tunes at the picnic

All the tireless and hardworking volunteers that helped before, during and after the event

Save the date for our 8th annual ride:

Saturday, October 18, 2014

At Camphill Kimberton, crafting a different way to live

Thank you to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Kristin E. Holmes and photographer Charles Fox for this lovely article on Camphill Kimberton, which ran on October 5, 2013:


http://articles.philly.com/2013-10-05/news/42721660_1_camphill-soltane-disabilities-communities

Aging in Community at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills

"For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, tho', in another dress. And as the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Aging in Community at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills: life in Serena House

When Serena House was built in the mid 2000s, the question was often asked: " How is Serena House different than other village houses?"

With the opening of Serena House, Camphill Kimberton manifested in brick and mortar its hope that people here would have a home until their earthly home is no longer necessary. This house was designed for possibilities that await us as we age, as the physical body needs more environmental support.  As with other village houses, it has been made a home, with its residents offering each other the care and sustenance of family, embedded in the fabric of the community.  

Serena House exemplifies how normal it is to age and eventually to die.  It is an education and a challenge to the community to offer the setting and support where this can happen, as a celebration of a life fully affirmed. 

In a community, one forms relationships.  Out of these relationships, love and caring for the other is awakened and is practiced in daily life together.  We all need to be live with dignity, to have choices, to help protect, sustain and nurture, and to be engaged in meaningful activity.  This happens at Serena House and within Aging in Community.  

Poem inspired by the Kimberton Hills Weavery

Many thanks to our friend, Karen Izzi, for this beautiful poem:

Late afternoon I visit the weavery at Kimberton Hills

A last bit of sun peeks through the window sheer.

Caught in awe at the works of art left on the looms

The entire room creeks and echoes

As my body passes over old hardwood.

I cannot help but sense the energy in this room

Colors brightly project the meaning of things

And rush a chill, even on this humid evening.

Projects left undone, waiting for tomorrow

Wool draped over crystal door knobs and work benches sit uninhibited.

Thin denim strips dangle and colorful thread longs to be decided upon.

Lonely whites and naturals stay on their shelf, quiet.

I pass my fingers over them.

Knitting needles abandoned for suppertime dishes

Now rest in a ceramic cup.

I notice hand woven baskets holding bits of yarn and fabric

Offering them a safe place to rest.

Quite a nice break in the day, for me

As I pay respect to the artists that work here.

 © Karen Izzi, PhD 2013

ARRGGGH... in celebration of International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Each year thanks to the generosity of the Anderson Family, who donates their vacation home, and the support of the Morrie Huston Villager Activity Fund, two groups of villagers and coworkers from Camphill Village Kimberton Hills take a Village Vacation to the Outer Banks in September.

While they are there, a popular spot is the Jolly Roger restaurant - which is of course, pirate-themed.

ARGGH!

In the last two years, the group has also visited the Nags Head Fire Department where the pirate fun sometimes continues.

There have also been many trips to the aquarium, ferry rides, days on the beach and other adventures.  Research confirms that vacations relieve stress, increase productivity at work and improve health and relationships.  Everyone deserves some rest and relaxation, including people with developmental disabilities, and Morrie was deeply committed to nurturing these experiences.   If you'd like to learn more about The Morrie Huston Villager Activity Fund, which helps provide these great experiences for our villagers, please click here.  Thank you!

A quick look at a biodynamic farm in the UK

London-based food bloggers HEMSLEY + HEMSLEY stop in the High Weald of Sussex, a natural area of beauty and home to one of the UK's few biodynamic farms -- Brambletye Fruit Farm and Orchard Eggs -- and speak with former Camphill Kimberton coworker, Ellie.


Learn more about Camphill Kimberton's biodynamic garden at http://www.camphillkimberton.org/sankanac-usa/.

Wasted food is hurting environment

Around the world, we waste 1.43 billion tons of food — one third of what we produce. A report from the Food and Agriculture Organization which came out on Wednesday has determined that food waste is creating billions of tons of greenhouse gases, and costing us water and land. "According to the FAO, each year, we lose a volume of water equivalent to the annual flow of Russia's Volga River in all the food we throw away," says NPR reporter Eliza Barclay.

The full article can be found here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/11/221153037/wasted-food-around-the-world-takes-heavy-toll-on-environment

What can we do about it?

Camphill Kimberton has been helping to combat this issue by picking up some of that waste from three local stores and composting much of what would otherwise be in landfills.  We also separate the food items from the packaging and recycle it.

Have a suggestion or want to share how you cut down on food waste?  Share it in the comments.  To learn more about Camphill Kimberton's sustainability efforts, please visit http://www.camphillkimberton.org/sustainability/.

Birds and Bats at Camphill Kimberton

from Guest Blogger, Marilyn Michalski

This year’s birding season was successful.  Our nesting boxes were used by many pairs of Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows.  The “Bird Team” of Marilyn Michalski and John Tower continued to improve box design and placement.  We also installed seven new boxes.  We counted up the number of baby bluebirds and tree swallows that were added to the world.   This year there are 127 new Eastern Bluebirds and 107 new Tree Swallows – all from boxes at Camphill Kimberton.  Make that 130 new Bluebirds –  we rescued three orphaned Bluebirds on Aug. 19, after both parents had been killed by predators.  We drove the week-old babies to the Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Chalfont, PA, where they are being fed and cared for.  This was a close call, as the babies were near death.  When we left the Rehab Center, they were already taking food.

Both Bluebirds and Tree Swallows help farmers.  The diet of Bluebirds is mostly grubs and crawling insects. Tree Swallows feed while flying – they catch insects in the air.  Together, Bluebirds and Tree Swallows improve crop yields.

We thank the residents of Camphill Kimberton for their support of the Bluebird Trail and their respect for our feathered friends. Charlene Roth gives us news about bird behavior, and Bill Lewis builds us nesting boxes.  Martha Cownap organized a “Nesting Bird Walk” last May – a popular event, which we plan to repeat in 2014.  Helen and Grace Ann permitted us to install a Bat Roost on Sassafras House, and Mimi Coleman feeds sugar-water to hummingbirds all summer.  Others give us encouragement and support. 

Bluebirds and Tree Swallows are “cavity nesters.” They build nests inside a cavity or protected box. We construct boxes with features they like, and we experiment with new locations every year. We discovered that some birds are willing to nest in boxes close to roadways in the village.

Another great achievement this year is the construction and installation of a large “Bat House” for Little Brown Bats. John Tower completed a “Four-Chambered Bat House” in August and, with the help of Maintenance Manager Jeff Whitman, mounted it on the East wall of the Bakery. It looks like a dark brown rectangle – up almost 15 feet, where bats like to sleep. Female bats like a large bat house in which they can move around, to find the right temperature for their babies. Bats are the only flying mammal, and they do not have feathers, just fur. Bat mothers nurse their babies the same way human mothers do. Bats eat hundreds of mosquitoes every night, as they dart around the sky after sunset, using echolocation to find food. There is no need to worry – bats do not fly into people’s hair. They have natural “radar” that prevents them from bumping into anything except the small bugs they catch for food.


by Marilyn Michalski with John Tower, AKA Bird Lady and Bat Man

Marilyn has been a volunteer with us since 1992, working to help American Kestrels, the smallest falcons. John Tower has brought his expertise and energy to the Bluebird Trail since early 2011.  His key role insures that birds and bats at Camphill Kimberton continue to thrive, adding joy and beauty to the village.

Thank you to Teresa S. Thompson for the bluebird box photos. 

Camphill Kimberton hosts art opening and community art day, featuring Zentangle

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills announces the Doodle Days Art Show, presented by Philadelphia Area Zentangle, whose works will be on display in the Camphill Café throughout September. All proceeds from art sales throughout the month are being donated by the artists to support Camphill Village Kimberton Hills’ arts activities. 

A gallery opening will be held Friday, September 6 from 2-7 p.m. in the Camphill Café.  Light dinner, beverages and desserts will be available for purchase and the artists will be present.  Live Native American flute music by Frank Henninger will be performed from 5-7 p.m.

There is also an interactive component to the show.  On Sunday, September 8 from noon- 4 p.m. in the Camphill Café, the community is invited to come and create Zentangle-inspired art and for a small donation, enjoy tables of activities for both children and adults. 

Zentangle is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.  Almost anyone can use it to create beautiful images. It increases focus and creativity andprovides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal wellbeing. The Zentangle method is enjoyed all over the world across a wide range of skills, interests and ages.

"We tangle to reduce stress, form a bond with nature, enhance our consciousness, unblock negative energy, break bad habits, and share this creative healing art, worldwide,” says Karen Izzi, Ph.D. CZT, certified Zentangle teacher and organizer of the art show at Camphill Kimberton. “Each pattern allows us to unwind as an overall lightness enters the mind, relaxing the body at the same time. As a wellness practitioner, I share Zentangle with clients to help them enhance their own lives. With each stroke, anything is possible. We create art with Zentangle, but most of all, we breathe.”

Karen Izzi, PhD. CZT, is the author of a Zentangle journal called, One Tangle at a Time, A Daily Diary of Zentangle. Signed copies will be available at the opening reception and it is available on Amazon.com.

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills – home to the Camphill Café - is located at 1601 Pughtown Road, Kimberton, Pa. Many GPS systems cannot find our location. Please use Google Maps for directions.