Ewalu Bible Camp & Retreat Center

The long-awaited renovations for Cedar Lodge are well under way! The kitchen and upstairs works is on pace to be finished by the start of summer camp in early June, and the lower level work on the HVAC, summer staff bathrooms/showers and the new location for the staff lounge will be finished early in the camp season. We'll show you the progress in videos throughout the day! 

Great Give Day 2026 is dedicated to helping Ewalu "Close the Gap" on funding for Cedar Lodge. As you have probably heard, we've had a bumpy road in 2025. After raising $2.1 million, topping the largest goal ever for a capital campaign at Ewalu, we got some tough news from our general contractor: Due to rising construction costs from inflation and tariffs, the Guaranteed Minimum Price had gone up to $3.4 million to finish the Cedar Lodge project as originally envisioned. That was an increase of $1.4 million from the original $2 million estimated price! Our hearts sank at the news, but God was about to do something amazing at Ewalu...

The Ewalu Board of Directors called a special meeting for the association of Camp Ewalu on October 25, 2025, to approve a motion from the board to pursue a mortgage of up to $1.4 million for additional costs associated with the Cedar Lodge renovation project. The 37 voters present for the meeting overwhelmingly approved the motion, allowing the board to move forward with the Cedar Lodge project as planned. We also at that point re-energized our fundraising efforts so that we would only have to borrow what was necessary to "close the gap."

Since the fall of 2025, many generous supporters have renewed their pledges and made extra gifts to raise more than $700,000, over half of the new goal. We are so thankful and overwhelmed by the support for this project!

After making some project adjustments, our goal now is to reach $3.2 million in funds for the project. We currently sit at $2.9 million raised, with just $300K left to go. If we can meet our goal of $30,000 today, on Great Give Day, that would be 10 percent of the difference in JUST ONE DAY! Can you help us get there with a gift on May 20?

To keep the giving going all day long, we'll release videos at each $5,000 mark to show off the different aspects of the renovations in Cedar Lodge. Ewalu board members and staff will talk about the changes and give you a tour on the renewed building at the heart of Cedar Lodge! 

Donate during a Power Hour (details to come) on May 20 to help us win bonus funds from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque to add to our endowment! Last year, we finished #3 with Number of Donors and #4 with Donations Raised among more then 200 nonprofit organizations taking part in Great Give Day! YOU make this day truly great for Ewalu year after year... THANK YOU!