Hot time: summer outside the city

They say it’s going to be a warm summer in Seattle. Make that a long, hot summer for at-risk kids growing up in the Rainer Valley. What’s there to do?

Shoot some hoops down at the old schoolyard? Loiter outside the corner convenience store? Challenge your friends to a game of chicken along the railroad tracks? There is another choice. It’s called C-A-M-P.

Summer camp is not only filled with fun things to do, but it also features activities that at-risk kids hardly ever get to do. Like get away from the city. Watch the stars on a pitch-black night. Stick your toes in an icy-cold lake. Paddle a canoe. Build a bonfire. Go fishing. When these kinds of activities aren’t available to kids, they turn to other things. Like skateboarding, playing video games, and watching MTV! Camp gives kids a different perspective on life.

Away from the pressures to “perform” or “be cool,” kids run, and laugh and begin to discover who they are — and who God created them to be. When they return home, they not only have hope for today, but also promise for tomorrow. That’s where our “Club” program comes in. It takes what kids learned at camp and builds on it. Camp costs just $24 a day — or $1 an hour (if you include the time they’re asleep in their cabins.) Is that a great investment or what? To all those who will give to send at-risk kids to camp this summer, thank you for changing young lives and giving them direction and hope for a better future.

To help send a kid to camp, click here.