YMCA Camp Collins

Summer Camp.

Just these two words conjures up a time when nothing else really matters, September and the start of school is a lifetime away and kids can just be kids. Unfortunately, that isn't often enough these days. Although I didn't enjoy summer camp as a kid, I have been fortunate to be exposed to its virtues in a number of ways since then.

In this area of the country, many 6th graders enjoy "Outdoor School." They spend a week during the school year attending a summer camp along with their teachers and spend an environmentally educational week. For many, it's the first time away from home alone.

Outdoor School didn't yet exist when I was a 6th grader, but I had the chance to be a counselor when I was a senior in high school. All the best of summer camp and more rewarding at the same time.

Then, Daughter Collette went to Camp Collins as a 1st grader. Six years old and a camper for life. On the banks of the Sandy River east of Gresham, Oregon, Camp Collins is the ultimate location. Sitting in a horseshoe bend in the river, it makes it easy to ride the river in an inner tube and not travel far from your base.

But tubing is a small fraction of the benefits that come with a stay at Camp Collins. First of all, your stay will include my 21 year old as the Arts and Crafts Director. Yes, a camper for life. The video above should be your first clue why she's a camper for life and I take every chance I get to visit camp. Add horses, archery, a climbing tower, a ropes course, songs, nonsense, well... you get the idea. A great environment, all with the positive YMCA virtues of love, respect, honesty, responsibility, and service.

But why am I sharing this? Camp Collins needs your help.

Each year the camp raises over $100,000 dollars to help families with tuition assitance. Assistance is strictly needs-based and those needs are increasing during these challenging economic times. Couple that with a more challenged donor base - for the same reasons - and you see the need for this plea.

If you want to help make a difference in a child's life - a difference that amounts to the only positive influence in some kids' lives - please give what you can. A dollar or a thousand dollars - it all makes a difference.

Click on this link, visit the Camp Collins web site, donate, and help make another camper for life.

Dave