Do you remember your first time at camp? The butterflies on your first day, and the confidence you felt when you faced your fears, learned new skills, and overcame challenges?
Next week, YMCA Calgary will be bustling with activity as our Day Camps kick off for the summer. Thousands of children and youth from all around Calgary will be coming in for their first day of camp. We are excited for the transformational and fun experience they and their camp counsellors are about to embark on.
In anticipation of that first day, we interviewed some of our Camp Counsellors about what camp means to them:
Meet Alexa, Day Camp Coordinator at Saddletowne YMCA.
Alexa started her camp journey the way many kids do, as a camper! Now, 9 years later, she helps coordinate Day Camps for Saddletowne YMCA in the summer, instructs climbing and skating during the year, all while she finishes up her degree in Education.
“Camp has shaped my whole life. It has allowed me to grow my leadership skills, has taught me how to handle stressful situations, grown my communication abilities, and allowed me a place to be quirky and silly. And now as a coordinator I get to pass on the skills I’ve learned and train up the next generation of campers and counsellors”.
While camp only lasts one or two weeks, the impact it has on a child lasts them a lifetime.
“I don’t think I would be who I am if I hadn’t started at camp. I was a shy kid, very reserved, but being at camp has brought out my goofy and fun side and helped me be more confident and not worry about what people are thinking of me.”
Whether it is day camp or overnight camp, YMCA provides children with a safe place to be themselves, where they can be removed from the troubles, pressure and worries of the outside world. Camp helps children see their potential, and provides them with the support to achieve it.
“Camp It Forward gives a child something amazing. Something that they may never have had the chance to experience without your donation.”
YMCA Calgary believes that all children should have the opportunity to attend summer camp. However, one in ten local children require financial assistance in order to attend. To ensure no child is turned away, YMCA Calgary is launching our Camp It Forward fundraiser to send 500 children to summer camp.
You can Camp It Forward today at https://www.ymcacalgary.org/camp-it-forward.