People Like You Make United Youth Camps Possible

“We are just so thrilled I don’t know what to say! My son asked to go to camp this year for the first time and I wasn’t sure how we’d get him there. Thank you so much for helping us! What a wonderful blessing! This has brought great joy to my heart and tears to my eyes. Thank you for all you do for the kids! It really does make a difference!”

This letter came from a grateful parent whose child was able to go to a United Youth Camp (UYC) last year because of people like you who have made this camping experience possible. This young person’s parents would not have been able to afford the tuition. The experience of fun and learning activities, along with last year’s theme of “Be Like Our Heavenly Father,” will leave a lifetime impression on this young person.

For the past two decades the United Church of God’s UYC program has been one of our most valuable programs. Its outcomes have brought new knowledge, increased skills, changed attitudes and modified behavior for our young people. Specifically, camp builds character, faith and friendships in the faith. It teaches service towards others as well as the courage and confidence to succeed in life. Also, very importantly, camp builds strong connections with the older generation. The importance of being mutually encouraging is fostered through the entire camp week.

What a blessing!

This year’s Christian living class theme for the campers is “Guided by God’s Word.” Camp builds spiritual strength through the concentrated study of God’s Word. At camp this year these principles aregoing to be applied to everything: activities, speech, respect for all, relationships and everything else.

The theme will be divided into five daily sub-themes during the camp week, with the goal of pointing the camper to living their lives by the Word of God. These Christian living classes are the core of our camps each summer and at Winter Camp. We begin each day after breakfast with the theme of the day in a compass check and in our first class. We then continue that theme all day long until the final dorm discussion at lights-out.

So what can you do to help ensure our teenagers are all able to take part in this year’s summer and winter camp season?

Camp Scholarship Fund

I want to ask for your help to make attending camp happen for as many young people as possible. Most families are able to afford the tuition, but there are some who simply cannot afford it. We don’t want them to be excluded from camp.

In 2015, 525 campers attended a teen camp. Seven percent of the campers received scholarships from the home office. The actual figure for those receiving help is higher because of local scholarships.

The total donated last year was over $50,000. The majority of that was used to defray the overall cost of the camp program. This way all campers benefit from these donated funds! Without these donations we would need to increase our subsidy for the United Youth Camp budget, and/or tuition costs would be increased a good deal. So all donations help lower the tuition cost for each camper and parent.

If you are able and would like to help support the UYC scholarship fund, your tax deductible donation will be most appreciated. Please simply send your donation to the home office (P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027), made out to the United Church of God and marked in the memo section: “Camp Scholarship Fund.” You can also submit a donation online.

Whether you can help with the camp scholarships or not, we ask that you pray for God’s blessing for a wonderful and safe camp season. We all deeply appreciate your love for God and your support for God’s young people. Many of us have seen the success of our camps firsthand, and they do produce very good fruit. You may very well have had a part in a changed life.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support that will truly make difference in a young person’s life!