 If you're a parent of a child who has attended day or
residential camp recently, chances are, you've noticed
an increase in their self-confidence, a sense of having discovered
strengths in themselves they were unaware of before, and a
lasting excitement over new friendships and new hobbies. These
are telltale signs of the transformative nature of camp. Truth
is, camp is on a short list of places today where children
and adolescents can take risks, challenge themselves, find
their voice, and learn the value of mentor and friend relationships
built on trust, mutual respect, and genuine caring all in a
safe and nurturing environment.
That being said, it stands to reason that all children should
have the benefit of a camp experience. Another truth: Not every
family can afford to give their child that opportunity.
That's why the American Camp Association (ACA) has teamed
up with grassroots volunteer committees in five regional areas
of the country (Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and
New York City) to offer children in need camp scholarships through
the new Change a Life Fund. This program is designed specifically
to collect monies from individuals to directly benefit the many
financially underprivileged children whose lives we can change
for the better through the camp experience. Eighty-two cents
of every dollar collected will go directly to a deserving child.
Andy Lilienthal, director at Camp Winnebago in Fayette, Maine,
sees the Change a Life scholarship program as a hopeful step. "Fundamentally,
camp is a unique opportunity for children to learn lifelong values," he
said. "In a perfect world, every child would have that
opportunity."
Lilienthal believes the Change a Life Fund will help camps introduce
children to diversity—economic, cultural, and racial. One
has only to hear from the kids at camp themselves to understand
why this is so important. Comments such as "I learned that
being different doesn't mean that you're bad, because
a rainbow can't be only one color," and, "I
learned at camp that I should treat others the way I want to
be treated," confirm the life-changing, empowering experience
that camp offers.
The scholarship program, Lilienthal said, is also a way for
parents, who have witnessed first hand the positive effects of
a camp stay in their own child, to reach out to other parents,
those who are financially struggling but want their kids to experience
a camp environment where they too can flourish. "This is
an opportunity for parents to get the word out in their communities,
one way they can participate," he said, one way to change
lives one child at a time and to "broaden the umbrella" of
the beneficial influences of camp.
ACA and the committees involved in the Change a Life Fund have
high hopes for the program and plan to include children and camps
in other regions of the country as the scholarship fund grows
each year. Resident and day camps within participating regions
are eligible to host campers through the Change a Life program
if they are ACA-accredited, nonprofit camps. Camps and scholarship
recipients will be carefully selected by ACA regional executives
and dedicated parent/volunteer groups.
Want more proof of the good things camp does in kids' lives
and the impact one person's donation can have? It is often
said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, the new
Change
a Life video released for the launch of this program speaks
volumes in offering an up-close-and-personal look at children
in the midst of their camp experience. Through this video you
can witness the joy they feel at the discovery of so many blessings:
self identity, confidence, lifelong friends, nature, and so much
more. Check out the video at www.campparents.org/support.
Every child given the opportunity to attend camp is also an
opportunity to plant a seed for a collectively brighter future.
These children become our friends, our neighbors, our teachers,
our leaders—they become part of the growing network of
people who have been touched and forever changed by the camp
experience.
In the absence of a perfect world, "we all try to change
the world a little bit," said Lilienthal. Donating to the
Change a Life Fund to empower a child to live a better life is
one way to do just that.
Find out more
information or to make a donation to the Change a Life Fund.
Top of page |
