We are eagerly anticipating your child’s trip to Glen Brook and in order to make this the healthiest trip possible we need your help. As you may know, bed bugs have become an increasingly intractable problem for many camps, resorts, and hotels. Some establishments have even had to temporarily shut down. Fortunately, Glen Brook has not had any issues with bed bugs! For the sake of our programs, and the children who participate, we would like to keep it that way. Below is a list of things that you can do to help keep Glen Brook free of bed bugs.

While preparing and packing for your Glen Brook trip campers/students must:

• Check all bedding, bed frames, and clothes drawers for signs of bed bugs. The inspection should be done at night with a flashlight because bed bugs are only active at night. A good resource for bed bug identification is: www.acacamps.org/knowledge/health/diseases/bedbugs
• Vacuum all luggage and inspect for bed bugs
• Wash clothes in hot water and dry all items in dryer on high heat
• Put all clothing in plastic bags such as Ziploc Big Bags (10 gallon size—usually available at grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target, and major department stores with household supplies)
• Each camper/student must bring a mattress sheet or cover in addition to quilts or sleeping bags.

What Glen Brook is doing to prevent bed bugs:

• Our facility is inspected regularly and found free of bed bugs
• Our staff was trained how to inspect for and identify bed bugs
• We are purchasing mattress encasements for all mattresses and box springs that do not already have vinyl covers
• Staff are trained to inspect for bed bugs and how to keep a level of hygiene in the bunks that discourages bed bugs, including: frequent vacuuming of bunk rooms; suitcases and clothes will be stored on shelves and in bags; no clothes will be hung from bunks
• Training for staff in how to calmly and respectfully manage campers/students in case bed bugs are found

Unfortunately, there are no preventative “treatments,” chemical or otherwise, that can be legally applied to our facility so it is really up to each family to make sure that they help prevent the introduction of bed bugs to Glen Brook by doing the above measures.

Thank you for your time and your support. If you have any questions or need more information please don’t hesitate to call.