Bunk 1 for e-mails

Bunk1 is a combined e-mail / fax service which provides for relatively quick communication between parents and campers. We ask all parents who wish to communicate with their children by e-mail to use this service; it makes it possible for us to deal with the considerable volume of incoming e-mails, and to send replies from your child(ren) by fax / e-mail, even though they do not have access to a computer here at Wilvaken.

How it works

Setup:

You must establish an account with Bunk1 as part of the "Wilvaken community". You need do this only once; the same account will be available from year to year as your child returns to Wilvaken.

You purchase "Bunk1 credits" for your account; you can then submit e-mails to campers at Wilvaken through Bunk1.

Mail Time!

This year we will try a new schedule for our e-mail handling, which will make it possible for same-day reply to an e-mail you have sent.

Bunk1 mail to camp (Incoming mail) -

Once each day, at about 11:00 EDT, Bunk1 will send us, by e-mail attachment, a large pdf file of all e-mails which have been sent to Wilvaken campers during the preceeding 24 hours. We print out these e-mails, and distribute them to campers at lunchtime that day. If you send an e-mail later in the day, it will be held at Bunk1 until the next day's delivery; your child will receive it at lunchtime the day after you sent it. Conclusion: send your e-mails before 10:30 EDT if you want same-day delivery!

Bunk1 mail from camp (Replies - outgoing mail) -

Once each day, in the late afternoon, we will collect the BunkReply forms which campers have put in the "Wilvaken outgoing mail" mailbox. We fax these Bunk1 Replies to Bunk1. Their service reads the encoding on the faxed reply forms, and sends an e-mail to parents for each reply form that they have received. This "Reply e-mail" to you is a notification that you have received a BunkReply form from your child; you can then view the reply form by logging in to your Bunk1 account.

About the replies -

In order for you to receive a BunkReply from your child at Wilvaken, the following events must occur:

Your child must have a BunkReply form on which to send you a note. You can either send a reply form with your e-mail to the camper, or purchase a supply of forms ahead of time and send them to camp with your child. These forms are specially encoded to direct them to you as an e-mail reply.
Your child must write you the reply, using a black or blue pen only. (Other colours don't appear on the fax!) This is a hand-written note, on the BunkReply form.
Your child must put the reply note in our "Wilvaken outgoing mail" mailbox, which is always available in the Lodge.
If all the above steps have occurred, then we will fax your campers reply to Bunk1 at about 16:30 EDT (sent daily).
Bunk1 will send you an e-mail to notify you that the reply is ready to be viewed.
You log on to your Bunk1 account to view the reply.

The timing -

If you send an email before 10:30 EDT, your child will receive it at lunchtime the same day. If s/he receives a BunkReply form with the e-mail, and if s/he writes a reply that same day before 16:00 EDT, and if s/he deposits the reply in our Wilvaken mailbox before 16:00 EDT that day, then you should receive the reply through Bunk1 at about 16:30 EDT, the same day you sent it - about a 6-hr turn-around under optimum circumstances.

Detailed usage instructions -

Detailed instructions on how to establish an account, send the email, include the reply form, etc. - with appropriate links to Bunk1 - will be posted on the website in late May.