Scholarships Build Diversity: Your Contribution Changes Lives!

It is our steadfast belief that camp is an integral and essential part of a child's education. Camp should be accessible to every child. And yet without help, summer camp is out of reach for many low-income families. Countless kids miss out on the magic of camp because they live in poverty.

According to research commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance and conducted by Edge Research, 12.6 million K–12 students participated in a “structured summer experience” in 2019 - defined as “a summer learning program, sports program, summer camp, summer school, or summer job or internship.” But another 13.9 million who wanted to participate were unable to. That’s about one in three children who did not participate in a structured summer program.

One of the key takeaways from the Afterschool Alliance report is that “higher income children are nearly three times more likely to participate in a structured summer experience than children from lower income families. 74% of children who were in a structured summer experience were from higher income families.”

Another report from the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, found that kids who come from more affluent families are five times more likely to attend a summer camp than their economically disadvantaged peers (children living at or below the federal poverty line). Whatever the study, the clear message is that opportunities are not meeting demand, in particular for low-income families.

Camper diversity is an important part of our mission. As we strive to create a richly diverse camper population, camper scholarships (camperships) allow us to provide tuition assistance to families who would not otherwise be able to attend camp. You can help!