One of the counselors’ favorite activities at Camp Swift is Overnight. Overnight is a night program where all of the cabins in one unit (youngest, middle, or oldest) eat hot dogs, hamburgers, and s’mores around the fire pit, play games, go on a night hike through the forest, and sleep outside under the stars. In my first year as a counselor, our unit was scheduled for Overnight on the third day, and our girls were bouncing-off-the-walls excited for all of the activities we had on the schedule. In the morning, we had canoeing, and just as we finished up at the lake, storm clouds started to roll in, but the girls were still ecstatic. By the time we had gathered around the fire pit for dinner, the clouds were much darker, and the girls were much more tired from spending all day outside. When the sun set, we all got ready for the night hike, and just as we started off, lightning lit up the sky and thunder boomed in the distance (I should mention that our unit was the youngest unit and this turn in the weather was, unfortunately, not received well by the campers). Each counselor in my cabin grabbed a few girls to hold on to, and we kept hiking as it started to rain. One of the girls I had with me had been pretty quiet all session, but we learned if you asked her about pokémon she could talk for an hour, minimum. After a particularly loud boom of thunder, she clung a little closer and said she was getting very scared. I knew that she was wearing her favorite Pikachu jacket, so I asked her, “Do you know where thunder comes from?” She didn’t, so I said, “It comes from lightning.” She said she didn’t like lightning any more than she liked thunder and I said, “But aren’t Pikachu’s powers a bit like lightning?” She stopped for a minute and said she had never thought about that, so she zipped up her jacket and put her hood with the Pikachu ears up and led the rest of the way.
This is my story, but every counselor at Swift has a few just like this. At Swift, fun is just the start. Swift goes above and beyond meeting the basic needs of campers to teach life skills and provide opportunities conducive to future success. Swift believes youth who are involved in mentoring programs tend to have increased self-esteem, greater school connectedness, stronger academic performance, and better relationships with parents and peers. However, campers aren’t the only ones who benefit. As mentors, we gain stronger leadership qualities and communication skills, a feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment, and an enhanced sense of well-being and self-worth.
Swift Youth Foundation has provided over 15,000 life-changing experiences to youth and teens since 1980. We would like to continue, but we need your help! Whether you can donate $25 for a sleeping bag for a camper in need, or $100 for the chance for one cabin to go canoeing at camp, every dollar you give makes a difference. Thank you for supporting Swift!