Camp Archives - Charity Matters

Causes June 19, 2024

It just isn’t summer without camp

Friday marks the first official beginning of summer. Each year over six million American children participate in some sort of day or overnight camp each year. Many of these camps are nonprofit organizations. Camp is a summer ritual for many and for other young students an opportunity for reinvention. To show up without past labels, to be at a place where no one knows who you are but who they see. That reinvention also allows children to feel great about themselves, after being away from home and independent for a few days or weeks. This generation is connected via devices but not authentically connected and camp gives these students a place to unplug and actually make real authentic connections.

As many of you know, I did not go to camp as a child but my day job is running a non-profit youth leadership organization, which also has a summer camp program. We have incredible high school and college students volunteering to serve as camp counselors and mentors. Many counselors are alumni of our program and want to give back to an organization that changed their lives. Students teaching students to be the best of themselves. Showing one another respect, how to learn from different opinions, and how to work together towards a resolution. Ultimately, teaching students how to lead.

Tomorrow, I will happily be greeting hundreds of smiling faces as our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders arrive with their nervous parents. For some, it will be their first time away from home. It is such a great feeling to bring everyone together. There is no greater joy than knowing that you are part of something bigger than yourself and that your work makes a difference. This video below from one of our students a few years back, pretty much says it all.

Nothing brings greater joy than planting the seeds of compassion in these incredible students year after year. When the world seems to get a bit crazier, these students give me hope. I can’t help believe that our children will be better than we were, they will learn, listen, come together to lead us all. These children are our hope. As one of our students said, “It is an eyeopener to learn that you can do something to change the world...”

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YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT, IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER.

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Charity Matters Quotes August 1, 2014

Charity Matters Quotes

” So long as we love we serve;

So long as we are loved by others,

I would almost say that we are indispensable;

And no one is useless while they have a friend.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

As you all know my summer leadership camp has just come to an end this year. Like many camps our entire staff is made up of volunteers who serve by giving their summers to inspire our students. These incredible high school and college students embody the true meaning of service.

This quote is dedicated to all the volunteers who made another child’s summer amazing because of their gift of service. Friendships are made and love is palpable at camp all because those who are filled with love choose to serve.

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? July 28, 2014

All good endings are beginnings

Just like summer, all good things must come to an end. Endings are inevitable and a part of life. This year my ending is also my beginning, inheriting a 32-year-old non-profit leadership camp, I understand just how sad our campers are when camp is over. Like our students who cling to their counselors crying the last day, I find myself feeling the same way. So sad that it has come to an end.

What is it about summer and giving so freely of yourself that brings out the nostalgia in all of us? Having never attended camp as a child I didn’t really “get it” but now I do. Camp is not about the new environment or friends. Rather, it is about being who you really are and who you are meant to be. The discovery of self and soul happens at camp. That island you are placed upon called “camp” isn’t about the location of where you are but more about being removed from your place and people and having to survive as yourself.

This is not a bad reality show, this is life. Camp is a mirror, where you start fresh, see yourself anew thru others eyes that have never seen “you” before. Seeing your true self is a gift, regardless of age. That mirror is always full of beauty, if you are willing to look.

Like life, all good things must come to an end. This year for me, the ending of leadership camp, like all good endings, is also a beginning…and I so love beginnings.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2014 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

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