Kiddie Crusoe

Dear Kiddie Crusoe Families and Friends,

I had hoped I would be announcing an open date for this month, unfortunately, that will not be the case. I have been working on every angle I could think of to keep Kiddie Crusoe’s doors open after months of nearly $10,000 in fixed expenses with no income in. I did apply and receive the EIDL grant and PPP, which got us through 2.5 months of nearly a 6-month mandated closure due to the types of attractions we have- ball pits, slides, inflatables, and prop-based play. And now, may not receive full PPP forgiveness because of the EIDL grant. Our liability insurance renewal was a trying experience that thankfully the wonderful people at Saratoga Heyl helped us navigate, but still at an unavoidable, significant increase. I had been working with a broker to sell Kiddie Crusoe and had a closing date of October 30th that was pushed to 11/15. Unfortunately, things disintegrated this week and we are now left with very little options.

I and many of the staff were looking forward to celebrating our 10-year anniversary this summer with our highest-grossing summer camp to date, and our staff and family favorite events, Spooktacular and Whobilation. I know many of you have been placing orders for gift certificates and placing inquiries and deposits for upcoming parties, and I cannot express how much your loyalty has meant and kept me from giving up these past months. However, please know that I could not in good conscience process any of those payments without our doors actually being open. It has been anguishing to realize that through no fault, I will lose what has been often called my third child. I was hoping to keep Kiddie Crusoe going by selling, so that our customers with party deposits, memberships, and gift certificates would not be losing out as well. Short of assuming more debt and risk with no guaranteed return and sacrificing yet more dwindling time with my children and family, I am at a loss of how to move forward without saying goodbye. Kiddie Crusoe was the main source of income for my family, and I have had no income aside from two months of PPP and a small weekly stipend from unemployment that will end in four weeks.

I am open to all short-term ideas and serious inquiries to keep Kiddie Crusoe running. I will be putting together gifts to sell from our remaining retail stock, as well as selling some redundant equipment and supplies to cover October and November expenses.

With hope,
Nikki Snyder, Mompreneur

Its Day 3 of Kiddie Crusoe being closed and we miss everyone!
A STEM challenge that our camp kids love is to build a BOAT that FLOATS out of LEGOs or Duplo Blocks. If you do this challenge with your kids post a picture in the comments.