The Friends of The Cameron Highlanders of the Northwest are men and women, young and old, that want to be part of our organization and help us with all or part of our mission. They may be interested in Scottish sports or culture, want to attend our social events, help us with our public service work, or with our primary mission, working with youth.
As a Friend of The Cameron Highlanders of the Northwest, you will be invited and encouraged to attend all of the organization's events. These include Civil War reenactments, social events like Burns Suppers and Family Potlucks, and public service activities like distributing food boxes working with North Clackamas Lions or annual visit to the Portland Veterans Medical Ctr. You can become involved by participating in one or both of our branches. There is always work to be done, manufacturing and maintaining equipment, and preparing for the next reenactment or work party. There are many other ways that you can help our organization.
Although the Cameron Highlanders of the Northwest have many activities, Civil War reenacting is our primary vehicle for working with young people, and is our most important activity at this time. Civil War reenacting is not extremely expensive, but it does require a substantial investment. It would cost approximately $1,000 for a new recruit to purchase the necessary equipment that they would need to participate with the 79th Highlanders. We provide new recruits with that equipment at no cost other than event fees to allow that individual to become involved without having to come up with a large sum all at once. We do however want them to buy their own gear over the next two years. We also need to charge our Members that participate at reenacting events, $25 a day to cover the expenses of providing and maintaining our loaner gear, tents, rifles, ammunition, food, and transportation. The ladies of the Caledonian Relief Society have similar expenses that their Members need to cover as well.
Our Members are paying close to $1000 for their first two years of reenacting. We do provide as many sponsorship opportunities as possible to allow those with financial difficulties to continue to participate, but most of the Members end up covering these expenses themselves. We have not raised our fees in over 15 years, and do not wish to do so now. However, all of our costs have gone up substantially. We are always in need of outside funding. We do not want to raise our fees and make it harder for our younger Members to participate, especially if a financial hardship for their families.
Please take the time to explore our website, and give some serious thought to helping us with our mission. We have been most fortunate to have local companies support our organization in both goods and services. Some have been sustaining donors and we are hoping to add to the list of our many Friends of The Cameron Highlanders of the Northwest.
The Cameron Highlanders of the Northwest has no major financial support at this time. All of the funds that we use to pay the organization's expenses come from our Members, one employer who matches volunteer hours with funds if an active member of our organization and from small donations. Although you do not need to make a financial contribution to become involved with our organization, your tax deductible donation would certainly help. Please see our DONATE page to support our non-profit activities with a donation.