Who are you? 

I know who I was before I devoted my teen years to Camp Fitch and it was a little, um, touch and go. 

Searching for adventure, I loved being bad. I loved finding punk shows in downtown Youngstown when my mom thought I was at the "picture show". I loved driving around, hoping to encounter boys and hoping no one's parents were home. I loved listening to music with shocking lyrics and scary rhythms. I loved trying new things. My mom and dad did not love it when I tried those specific "new things". Something had to change.  

Sometimes in life, we have defining moments, specific things that happen that transform us forever. 

It's birth, it's death, it's sickness, it's meeting a friend or a partner. After that you're different. You'll never be the same. 

My pivotal moment came the first time I volunteered to work a weekend at Camp Fitch during the school year. 

We met at the Youngstown YMCA and waited to depart on a Friday night in the lobby with the scent of chlorine in the air. I can still feel the palpable anticipation of getting away to the unknown independence of a place I trusted and a respite that could save me from the cruel, cool friends that I'd burdened myself with. 

We loaded ourselves into a big, white camp van and I looked around shyly at an amazing character with bright red shoulder-length dreadlocks and a Counting Crows t-shirt, braces beaming and kind eyes smiling. I was immediately inundated by the awkward wizard who couldn't sit still; talkative and disarming. The D&D playing Boondock Saint, outfitted in a newsboy cap and tidy trench coat. Nurse Deena settled our nerves and heightened our anticipation by telling us the back-story of the Camp Fitch characters and winter staff, our duties and describing just how deep the lake-effect snow was (I believe it was four feet deep that weekend. Really!). 

Once we pulled into the quiet and dark winter swirl of Camp, I stepped into the staff lounge and saw a lumberjack fiddling with a guitar, poked my head into the dining hall to see a Brit folded into a chair reading literature by the massive fireplace. I met a tomboy blonde from someplace in Cleveland who spoke in an accent that I found astounding, novel, delightful! I looked over at the Nurse, at my new friends Liz, Caleb, David, Carley, Ben, Scott and at my brother, Michael, and knew that this place would change my world forever. 

And it did. 

What if you could plan someone's pivotal moment?

What if you could say,

• I will give a kid a catalyst that will fill them with wonder.
• I facilitate mentors that will help them see beyond the limits of their world, predefined by class or geography. 
• I will help shine a light on nature and being outside.
• I will give the opportunity to foster collaboration.  
• What if? 

By donating to the Camp Fitch Polar Bear Plunge, you can be the person who changes lives.

By making a donation of ANY AMOUNT you're contributing to the greater good.

Your thoughtfulness will ou will give a kid access to Camp Fitch, a world-renowned summer camp that is an anchor in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.  

Your kindness means that a kid that was on the brink of who-knows-what will be redirected to learning code from a Google data engineer (true story), basketball from a future NBA coach (true story), chatting in Spanish with a Castellano (true story). They'll surround themselves with future Formula 1 aerodynamics engineers (true story), pilots (true story), award-winning chefs (true story), teachers (true story), Navy SEALs (true story), New York Fashion Week-level designers (true story), world-renowned runners (true story), nurses and physicians (true story), teachers (true story), molecular biologists (true story) and so, so many more. 

Yeah, we may tell a few tall tales around the fire, so I figured I'd let you know what the real story of me and my friends is. 

Back to donating: 

The little humans that you donate to will either receive a full or partial scholarship to summer camp, their school will get financial assistance or bussing it needs to bring students to this incredible program, or we use your donations to enhance programming and buy the supplies we need to teach archery, BBs, horseback riding, crafts, rock climbing, go on bike and boat trips and feed our animals.

Isn't that amazing? 

And it's all thanks to YOU! 

Donate Now.