How Camp Changes Lives

Camp Allegheny

When Becky first attended camp as a child, it was her first time away from home for a full week. What she remembers most are the friendships she made during those summers, including one girl who is still one of her closest friends today.

Years later, Becky still returns to not as a camper, but as a volunteer helping prepare the camp for the next group of children. She enjoys making sure other kids have the same opportunity she once had. 

Camp Ladore

Beth Wolstenholme first attended Camp Ladore as a camper and later returned as a teenager to work at camp. That summer, she met Adrian, a lifeguard who had traveled from England to serve there.

What started as a simple camp friendship didn’t end when summer did. After months of letters and phone calls across the Atlantic, Beth and Adrian reunited in New York. The rest, as they say, is history.

Nearly 30 years later, they are married with two children and still look back on Camp Ladore as the place where their story began.

Stories like Beth’s are a reminder that camp is about more than activities and summer fun. It’s a place where friendships form, confidence grows, and moments happen that can shape a lifetime.

Camp Star Lake

When Amanda first arrived at camp, she never imagined it would become such an important part of her life.

What started as a single summer experience quickly turned into something more. Year after year, she returned; first as a camper, then as a junior counselor, and eventually as a teacher helping younger campers discover their own talents.

Today, after more than a decade of summers at Star Lake, Amanda is studying music education in college. The lessons she learned at camp didn’t just shape her love for music, they helped her discover a calling to teach and mentor others.

Now, Amanda spends her summers helping the next group of campers grow in confidence, learn new skills, and experience the same encouragement that once shaped her.

She says camp showed her that she was part of a community that cared about her and believed in her future.

Because of supporters like you, campers continue to experience the same opportunities of learning, growing, and discovering gifts children can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Thank you for helping another generation of children discover new confidence, build friendships, and create memories that will stay with them for years to come.