Every figure, and where it comes from
This page exists because our numbers used to disagree with each other. Six different camper counts were live at once across our own files, and our own dashboard flagged it against us. Everything published on this site now comes from one file, carries a definition and a source, and appears here. If you find a number on this site that is not on this page, it is a mistake and we would like to know.
How to read this
There are 22 published figures. 10 are marked verified, meaning they were counted from a primary record and the arithmetic reconciles. The rest are marked estimated, meaning the method is stated but at least one input is a reasonable estimate rather than a receipt. Estimated figures carry a small marker wherever they appear.
Three rules govern this file. A number that cannot show its working does not get published. A number that is derived from other numbers is computed, never typed. And the build refuses to run if the figures stop adding up, which is how we intend never to have this problem again.
The last section lists what we took down and why. We would rather publish that than quietly delete it.
demand
Reach and demand
How much bigger each camp is than the one before it. Places, not children.
Families who completed an application. Counted across all cycles to date.
The share of Open Ice programming delivered at no cost to the family. There is no fee, no deposit, and no equipment charge.
Child hours, not clock hours. One child at camp for one hour is one hour.
The equipment
Individual items of hockey equipment given to campers to keep. Counted as separate items, because that is what a family carries out of the building. A helmet with its cage attached is counted once, as one thing you put on your head.
What the equipment would have cost the families at entry level youth retail. It is the value delivered, not what Open Ice paid, because much of it was donated.
What one full set of equipment costs, all in, for one camper: skates, helmet and cage, shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, shin pads, pants, stick, jersey, bag, socks and a base layer. The child keeps every piece.
One full set of equipment for one child, all in. It is the same figure as the equipment share of a camp place, per_camper_gear, and is kept as its own entry so older links to it still land.
The money
What a place costs today: one child, one camp, everything included. It is a forward looking cost of a place, not a historical average. Dividing total value delivered by enrolments gives a different and smaller number, because the two measure different things.
The total retail value of everything handed to families in the six months to August 2026: equipment, ice, food, prizes, and the insurance and admin that lets a camp legally run. It is what six months would have cost a parent, not what it cost Open Ice.
Ice booked and paid for across all three camps, valued at the hourly rate actually charged by each arena.
Lunches and snacks across the summer and March break camps. The December pilot had no catered food.
Daily prizes, camper of the day awards, jerseys and branded gear.
The coverage and operating cost of legally running a children's camp.
The people
Hours given by volunteers, the student executive and the founder across all three camps, including planning time. It is time contributed to Open Ice, and it is not the same thing as hours of programming a child received.
Unique individuals who volunteered at the summer camp. Twenty-eight forms were submitted; two were exact duplicates.
Students holding a named role on the Open Ice executive.
Distinct individuals who donated to the GoFundMe campaign. There are 42 donations; one person gave twice.
The largest donation to the GoFundMe campaign. Given quietly, under a variant spelling of the donor's name.
The smallest donation to the GoFundMe campaign. Published because a list that runs from five thousand dollars down to five dollars, and names both, is the truest thing we can show a donor.
The programme
Scheduled ice per camper per camp day, in two sessions.
The public Google review score for Open Ice Initiative.
What we stopped saying, and why
These figures were on this site or in our materials. Each one was removed because it could not be supported. Nothing here was replaced with a bigger number.
| What we used to say | Withdrawn | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-17 | Three impression counts circulated and only the 90,000 had a breakdown behind it. Rather than publish the smaller version, the founder decided to drop the metric: it counts journalists rather than children, and it is the weakest number on a page of strong ones. | |
| 2026-08-17 | Head counts are not how this organisation measures itself, and the figure never reconciled with the rosters. Replaced by capacity growth, equipment distributed, volunteer service hours and programming hours. | |
| 2026-08-17 | Replaced by a count rather than an estimate: 576 individual pieces, across fourteen line items, each one an object a family carried home. | |
| 2026-08-17 | Open Ice does not publish per camp headcounts. Growth, equipment, volunteer service and programming hours describe the work better than a roster size does. | |
| 2026-09-24 | Superseded by $1,060 in September 2026. | |
| 2026-09-24 | Open Ice does not publish per camp headcounts. |
Found something wrong?
Tell us and we will fix it and note the change. Accuracy is worth more to us than any individual figure on this page.