Rorina was ecstatic! She had just finished a phone call with her camp director who asked her to be a CIT (Counsellor in Training) for the summer. A camper since she was 11, (except for the COVID years when she went to camp virtually) her time at camp was always the highlight of her year. She loved being with her friends, the feeling of freedom paddling a canoe, singing songs around the campfire, getting dirty and wet on canoe trips, and hearing the haunting call of a loon as she was falling to sleep in her cabin.
In the past she had gone to camp for three weeks, but this year it would be for the whole summer. She grew tense thinking of the responsibility of working with young children, but then relaxed when she thought of the honour of being chosen to be a CIT—what she would learn, and the joy of being outdoors for the summer.
Camp was a huge contrast to the crowded downtown Toronto apartment where she lived with her three siblings and her single mom. Unlike most of the other campers, Rorina’s yearly camp fees had been subsidized by The Amici Camping Charity (Amici) that enables young children from low-income families to go to summer camp. This year, her fees would be discounted in return for her contribution as a CIT.
It's been widely accepted that education is one of the best ways to break out of poverty and create equality. The summer camp experience sits at the top of the heap of being an outstanding provider of educational activity and opportunity. Aside from the lifelong friendships she had developed at camp over the years, Rorina’s experience as a Counsellor-In-Training could easily, and almost certainly will play a key foundational role in her life.
The money raised by Amici and other similar organizations comes primarily through donations and annual events such as Amici’s CANOE HEADS for KIDS held annually in late May. Founded in 2007 by two former Camp Kilcoo campers, CANOE HEADS for KIDS draws participants who portage and paddle 7.5 kilometres each way for a 15-kilometre urban journey along Toronto’s waterfront. Since its inception in 2007, they have raised over $2 million and sent several thousands of children to camp.
There are over 1,000 camps in Canada (day and overnight) and 15,000 in the USA (down unfortunately from pre-Covid levels). Typical cost for a day camp ranges from $35 to $500 per week, and overnight camps cost from $400 to $1000 per week or more. Most camps are located on lakes, although many are in cities, in schools or at parks sponsored by faith groups, or community recreation departments.
The challenges and camaraderie are the same in most circumstances.
Is it fun? Would you go again? Just ask someone who has done it. The most common reply will be, “It was amazing! Yes! 150% I would do it again!” Lifelong friends from camp often continue these adventures together for many years, sometimes into their 70s and 80s.
Camp leaders rarely earn much money, but they acquire many special transferrable life skills and rate this leadership experience and responsibility highly. Mostly they learn about other people and building and managing relationships, in many cases an invaluable cornerstone for their careers. This is what Rorina will learn this year.
Chris Snyder is the author of several books and several hundred articles on personal finance, Chris’ most recent book "Creating Opportunities-A Volunteer's Memoir" describes a lifetime of volunteer experiences, much of it as an active member of the Rotary Club of Toronto and on many not-for-profit boards. Chris is past chair of the Canadian Landmine Foundation, founding chair/current chair of HIP (Honouring Indigenous Peoples) and the Trudeau Centre of Peace, Conflict and Justice as well as past board member of CUSO and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He organizes and runs hands-on school building trips to the developing world and is the recipient of many volunteer and community service awards, among them the Paul Harris Fellowship Award, the Queen's Gold and Diamond Jubilee Awards, the Rotary Service-Above-Self Award and the Governor General's Sovereign Award for Volunteering. His latest book, “Good News in A Crazy World,” will be published by Civil Sector Press in 2024.
