HASC SOS

To the board of directors of HASC Inc.,

You have already received letters signed by the head staff and Team HASC. It is quite clear that HASC Inc.s most recent and disastrous hire has alienated literally hundreds of what were formerly its most devoted advocates.
This letter is not to inform you of what you already know, mainly that the people who are responsible for carrying camp upon their shoulders (either as head staff or fundraisers) have taken a public stand against the corruption pervading the organization to which they have collectively devoted decades of their time, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and gallons upon gallons of blood, sweat and tears, and that we support them fully.
This letter has been written on behalf of a group that you have most certainly overlooked in your calculations regarding the reaction to your ruinous decision: recent former counselors and other staff members.
Many of us are between the stages of working as counselors in HASC (for some it came earlier than we had planned due to your actions) and entering the workforce and becoming donors to camp. It is easy to conclude that since you may be able to find other people to be counselors, and the fact that we do not control any serious financial means, that we can be ignored. However, we still play a crucial role in both arenas.
HASC is able to effectively recruit both counselors and donors alike due to its (until recently) sterling reputation. Every advertising opportunity, for camp recruitment, to the HASC concert, to potential contributors, is built off of the hard work that we did in camp. The stories that are related at camp events, every campers first step or word, every heartwarming moment, every breakthrough that inspires people to give of themselves with their hearts, souls, or financial means, came from real events that occurred with us as the ones who experienced and facilitated them.
Part of the agreement that we entered into when we signed up for camp was that in addition to our time, skills, and energy, we would contribute our images and stories to help promote camp. Many of us have had our pictures displayed in theaters, schools, peoples homes, and on websites around the world, and had our stories told (with any appropriate detail omissions and amendments), and were quite happy that our exertions would not only benefit our campers in the short term, but the mission of Camp HASC in the long term.
You have broken your part of that bargain. For much of the past year, ten thousand dollars each month has been taken away from the camp and its participants, and given as a consultancy fee to a man whose actions have clearly and unequivocally demonstrated that he is not acting with the interests of Camp HASC in mind. In addition, money and resources have been diverted to build this man a house overlooking the campus. You have announced that, beginning the first of May, you will pay this man a yearly salary of $180,000 a year to as director of strategic planning. In addition to this, you have taken more crucial funds and hired a public relations consultant to manage the accompanying backlash that you were sure would occur. And this is only the monetary mishandling of which we are aware.
You have stolen our images and anecdotes, and used them for the personal gain of a man who has not even attempted to publicly refute the charges of theft against him. Just like him, you are misusing the camps money, with no reasonable excuse or rationalization that could possibly construe your or his actions as beneficial to camp. We agreed that the residual benefits from our work at Camp HASC may be used to further the camps mission, and you are capitalizing on our efforts for personal gain.
Therefore, we are putting you on notice, that should the course of unfolding events not take a rapid and extreme turn for the better, we are retracting any and all consent, be it implicit or explicit, for Camp HASC to use our images, anecdotes, videos, testimonials and any other evidence of the amazing work that we have done, and that despite your best efforts we will not let you cheapen, for the raising of funds, the donation of equipment, or the hiring of staff, which will in turn perpetuate the cycle of theft, threats, untruths and immorality that has characterized these proceedings, and will surely be your legacy should you choose to continue on your current path.
We will not be accomplices to the horrific crime of stealing money from the special needs population, of fundraising under false pretenses from that communitys supporters, and the inevitable repercussions that will set the Jewish special needs community back by decades. We will not take this lying down. Every one of us was used to raise funds, over one hundred thousand dollars of which has already been stolen, with hundreds of thousands worth of embezzlement planned for the future. At this point, it is not enough to cancel your planned $180,000 yearly superfluous and misguided expenditure, but to find a way to pay back the money already misappropriated, and to apologize to the thousands of people that you have hurt along the way. You will never be able to fully undo the damage you have caused, but that would demonstrate at least a modicum of remorse and perhaps salvage the reputation of camp. Until then, we will not stand idly by while you use our image to promote your agenda, and every time we find out about a transgression, we will speak up, and we will be loud. You are not Camp HASC; we are. And we will not let you steer HASC down the path to ruin. Not quietly.

Sincerely,
HASC former staff

P.S. We have worked for years to make the sweatshirt a badge of honor, and hair will grow on the palms of our hands before you take that away from us.