ASHFORD, Conn. — With symbolic shovels in hand, a group of camp leaders and benefactors celebrated a groundbreaking at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford. The number of buildings was reduced to rubble after a fire in February ripped through a central area of the 340-acre camp.
Six months later, after raising millions of dollars for two new complexes at the camp, Jimmy Canton, the CEO at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp said, “this new space is going to be universal in design, it will be larger, it will be able to run year-round -- so out of a tragedy comes a blessing.”
Just days after the February 12th blaze, donations to help rebuild at the camp that Paul Newman founded in 1988 poured in.
Soon after, Newmans’ Own brands donated one million dollars and Travelers matched another one million dollars from private donors.
Andy Bessette, the chief administrative officer at Travelers said of the new project at the camp, “what is really special is that this isn’t just a rebuild, this is going to be rebuilt and reinvented.”
Dannie Pink, a former camper and counselor at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp who spent Summers at the free camp having fun while fighting Sickle-cell Anemia said of the new project, “this is definitely going to change kids lives for the rest of their lives, they will make memories and friends here.”
Canton added, “this is really a happy occasion.”
The hope is that both new buildings will be completed by next Summer in time to welcome the camp class of 2022.
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