Ignite joy by helping a child get to summer camp

Brockville & Kingston – Every year, children across our region rely on the generosity of donors to help them experience all that summer camp has to offer. Your gift can ignite joy in our children.

Attending summer camp makes a tangible difference for kids. Time at camp is powerful and life-enriching.

“The benefits of helping a child attend a summer camp go beyond camp games,” said Rob Adams, CEO of the YMCA of Eastern Ontario. “We now see more children struggling to cope in social situations and the mentorship they receive from camp staff helps them learn how to have healthy interactions with new friends.”

Last year’s Send a Kid to Camp fundraiser provided 389 weeks of summer camps for area kids. That means that more than one-in-four children attending camps each week were able to do so because of the subsidies that donations provide.

But attending camp is only the first part of a child’s summer camp story. We heard about acceptance, delight, learning and leadership in a survey of parents and guardians.

One parent shared, “My son has Autism and I felt like he was very supported by the staff at the camp. They made me and my son feel very comfortable and he had a wonderful experience!”

Another said, “My two kids loved the camp, even picking up a few extra days other than the two weeks they had been approved for [with subsidy]. The staff was very inclusive of my transgender child, using preferred pronouns, names and making him feel safe overall.”

And still another parent extolled the experience. “I just can’t say enough about our experience. From registration problems that were handled with patience and kindness [to the camp lead who] was friendly, available and accommodated our specific family’s needs – so grateful. Week-to-week, the kids had the flexibility of choosing preferred activities, taking breaks, etc. The leaders onsite catered to the kids’ interests by adjusting the schedule and truly caring about them. So many times, my kids came home and spoke of how the leaders swam and played at the pool with them, how the leaders made up a Pokémon game for the kids on-the-fly. Just so, so great. And so great to see males in the leadership team as well. My son really admired the boys such a great mentorship of sorts.”

This year’s fundraising goal is $127,000. Your gift helps the most vulnerable children in our communities to not only have fun, but to gain the important foundations that set them up for future successes at school and at play.

While there have been a number of studies on the “summer learning slide” (a phenomenon that disproportionately affects youth living with lower income) what isn’t as well known is that the social and emotional aspects of summer learning are every bit as important as academic support in student success.

“We see so many children blossom over their time at camp, said Adams. “The YMCA provides a safe, welcoming, respectful environment where children make new friends, gain new skills, and learn positive behaviours from counsellors who become their role models. Summer camp helps to positively shape children’s lives yet many kids won’t have this experience without the help of people in our community.”

Please donate to Send a Kid to Camp and ignite joy for children in our communities.

For more information on the YMCA of Eastern Ontario: https://eo.ymca.ca/