STRAWBERRY POINT, IOWA – Ewalu Camp & Retreat Center announced today the largest gift to date for the Cedar Lodge renovation project, bringing the fundraising total within striking distance of its $2 million goal. The $500,000 gift from Candy and Richard Altorfer of Cedar Rapids, with $400,000 going to the Cedar Lodge project and $100,000 to the camp’s endowment, puts the “Cedar at 60” campaign at $1.7 million raised, paving the way for the project to break ground in 2025.
“We are overjoyed and grateful to Candy and Rich for this incredible gift to Ewalu,” said Frank Johnson, executive director at Ewalu. “We give thanks to God for all the campers, school groups, young adult summer staff, alumni, adult enrichment attendees, and rental partners who will reap the benefits of a new, modernized, beautiful Cedar Lodge. With this gift, we are eager to make the new Cedar Lodge a reality as soon as possible.”
The Altorfers’ gift honors Candy Altorfer’s late grandparents, Vernon and Hilda Schuchmann of Manchester, and Candy’s parents, Deleva Grimm Stevenson and the late Gordon Grimm, who were instrumental in the construction of Cedar Lodge in 1962. “My father was one of the builders of Cedar Lodge,” said Candy. “They had a volunteer group of men from First Lutheran Church in Manchester. The women of the group would come and bring food to feed them, because there was no kitchen yet.” Fittingly, the Altorfers’ gift to the campaign means the camp can plan for construction in 2025 to update the same building that Candy’s parents helped build more than 60 years ago.
“We want to give our money away while we’re alive so we can see the benefits of it,” Candy said of the couple’s gift. She was on staff at Camp Ewalu as the office and event planner from 1974 to 1979. “I enjoyed the work very much; I felt it was a real calling to work there,” she said. Candy was also a camper at Ewalu as a youth, and her niece, Nicole Phillips, was a summer camp counselor. “Our family goes a long way back with the camp,” she said.
The Schuchmann family owned a farm near the camp property west of Strawberry Point, and in the early years of their marriage Candy’s grandparents herded cows on the land that would later become Ewalu. “They were connected to the land before it became a Bible camp,” said Candy. “We always had the Schuchmann family reunion at the camp in those years.”
The Altorfers’ gift also honors the family’s Lutheran legacy in Manchester, Candy’s hometown. “Grandma and Grandpa were charter members at First Lutheran Church. Grandpa was a Sunday school superintendent, my mother was a Bible study leader, and my father was on the council at the time Ewalu was being built,” she said.
Candy, her mother and her grandmother were instrumental in starting the annual Ewalu Quilt Auction fundraiser, which will have its 37th annual event this year on Sept. 21. Richard Altorfer has a longtime connection to Camp Highlands in Wisconsin, “so camping has been part of his life, too,” said Candy.
After working at Ewalu, Candy worked 12 years at Luther College in Decorah as the director of alumni and parent relations. She and Richard, both Luther College alumni, married in 1989 and made their home in Cedar Rapids, where Richard had a career in finance. In retirement, the Altorfers have been involved in local preservation and gardening projects (Candy is a Master Gardener) and replacing trees after the 2020 derecho. The couple are also active with the Monarch Research Project in Cedar Rapids.
Camp Ewalu, a Lutheran ministry serving Eastern Iowa since 1961, kicked off the “Cedar at 60” campaign in 2022 to update Cedar Lodge. For more than 60 years, the building at the main camp site has long served as the hub of activity for campers, summer staff and visitors. But the well-used building’s layout and aging infrastructure need renovation to serve guests more fully.
The campaign aims to strengthen Cedar Lodge and the camp’s ministry in four key areas:
- Greater hospitality, by creating ADA-accessible restrooms on the main floor, adding space for gatherings, adding air conditioning and upgrading technology for retreats and conferences. An addition will also enhance the main entrance to the building.
- More efficient food service and dining experience, by remodeling and expanding the commercial kitchen and streamlining the food preparation and serving areas.
- Enhanced living conditions for summer staff, with a new HVAC system to address moisture issues in the lower level of the building, remodeling the lower-level restroom and shower areas and remodeling the summer staff break room.
- Improved environmental stewardship, by increasing energy efficiency in the building and installing new solar energy collectors.
Building plans, details about the renovation and a donation link can be found at www.ewalu.org/cedar-lodge-project.
“The Altorfers are making their gift now so that they can see the results of their gift while they are living,” said Mark Davidson of Onalaska, Wisconsin, a campaign co-chair and member of the board of directors at Ewalu. “This generous gift from Candy and Rich resonates with many who support this project and realize a sense of giving back to a camping ministry that has meant so much to them.” Davidson’s father was the executive director at Ewalu in the years that Candy was on the staff. “While the fundraising phase of this project is nearly complete, we still need donors to help with the final push before we can break ground,” said Davidson.
Camp supporters will have an opportunity on Wednesday, May 15, to bring the campaign total even closer to the $2 million goal. Ewalu is participating in Great Give Day, a 24-hour online fundraising event sponsored by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD). Donations made online May 15 at www.GreatGiveDay.org/CampEwalu will go toward the “Cedar at 60” campaign. Throughout the day, donors can help the Christian ministry qualify for special bonus prizes and unlock challenges, funded by CFGD and friends of Ewalu, that will boost the total even more.
“This is an incredible time for Ewalu, as we witness the amazing generosity of our donors—exemplified by folks like Rich and Candy—who are driving us to live more deeply into our mission to connect the Word of God with the world of God,” said Johnson, Ewalu’s executive director. “Camp has never been more vital than it is today, and we are thrilled to be in a position to make a difference in the lives of young people across eastern Iowa.”
ABOUT CAMP EWALU
Camp Ewalu is a year-round Christian ministry that serves over 200 Lutheran congregations across Eastern Iowa with nearly 1,000 youth participating in its summer programs and nearly 1,000 more through Day Camp evangelism programs. The camp also serves 1,500 environmental education students and nearly 6,500 additional youth and adults who come to renew and grow in their faith throughout the year.
The camp’s mission is to serve all people as a place to connect the Word of God with the world of God, with its main site and office located just west of Strawberry Point and the Stone Center retreat space just north of Strawberry Point. Learn more at www.ewalu.org.
Built in the early 1960s, Cedar Lodge has long served as the hub of activity for campers, summer staff and visitors. The “Cedar at 60” campaign has a goal of $2 million to expand the building and make major renovations to the kitchen and dining area, restrooms, and HVAC while adding a solar array and creating a new entryway.
