Building Young Lives Through Camping

This is a first-hand story from Ben Stenhaug, one of our youth camp counselors at YMCA Camp Streefland. Ben's story shows the effect YMCA camps can have on young lives. As you read along, remember back to when you were that age, and see if a smile doesn't cross your face!

John is respectful, responsible, honest, caring, and his main goal at camp is to have as much fun as he possibly can. As his counselor my job is to assist in this quest for fun while still ensuring his safety. John makes balancing that line difficult; being the adventurous type, he’s been seen up to his knees in the lake, known to run off chasing a frog, and tackling less aggressive players in our group's weekly football game. During the three weeks I’ve been with John, I’ve become more understanding of his behavior and more able to connect with him.

On a routine Thursday afternoon, John broke Camp Streefland’s primary rule: he ran away from his counselor. He didn’t run away from me to make me worry or to make my job more difficult. He ran away because chasing frogs is fun. A few minutes later when I tracked John down I was prepared to scold him, but looking at the situation through John’s eyes reveals his innocence. Of course I had to make sure he didn’t run away from me again, but I didn’t feel like being too harsh when he was simply trying to have a little fun at Camp. After all, that’s what Camp Streefland is all about. Instead of yelling at him I pulled him aside and had a valuable conversation with him. “John! Why did you run away from me? You know that’s not okay.” I asked. “I caught a huge frog, sorry, I knew right where you would be,” he responded. John was right. Being a veteran camper he knew right where the pool is and there is no doubt that John would have showed up in his swim suit a few minutes later if his detour went unnoticed. After a few unimportant questions I arrived at a compelling response. “Do you act up like this at school,” I asked. “Yeah, I’m a bad kid at school, my teachers don’t like me - I got six detentions last year” he responded. “But you’re such a good kid at camp. How come you listen to me but not your teachers?” I asked. His response still warms my heart, “You’re cool, you are way better than my teachers, you are the best.” That’s the moment it occurred to me that if I am simply helping my campers have a fun time a golden opportunity has been missed.

These kids look up to me, they listen to everything I tell them. I have an opportunity that parents and teachers don’t have. It comes from being “cool” in the campers eyes. I’m “cool” in the campers eyes because parents are attempting to raise a good kid, while teachers are trying to force feed education to these kids, I’m simply trying to have fun with them. It may also stem from my long white Nike shorts and 18 year old physique, but regardless of the reason, the opportunity remains. My words, the messages I send, mean much more than anyone else’s. So I explained to John that his teacher isn’t trying to make his life difficult, his teacher is trying help him. I explained to him that his teachers are trying to make him smarter so he can truly be whatever he wants to be. I explained to a second grader the importance of education. I don’t think he really understood the implications of my thirty second message, but I do know that he was listening and that he trusts me. To make sure that my message was received I asked, “Will you try to be a good kid at school?” The conversation ended with John responding “It’s hard, I can try.” I tapped him on the shoulder and he ran excitedly towards the pool. From then on I’ve had two goals at camp. The primary goal is always safe fun, but the second and more important goal is make my campers better people outside of camp. That is what Camp Streefland means to me; an opportunity to enrich the lives of the campers in as many ways as possible. In the short run it means fun, in the long run it means making them better people.

Not too long ago I was a camper. I wish my counselor would have sent that message to me. I’ve lived in Apple Valley, Minnesota my entire life. I attended Greenleaf and Echo Park elementary where I caused my share of havoc. I continued on to Falcon Ridge Middle School and eventually through Apple Valley High School where I did well enough to be accepted at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Next week I will be starting a new adventure as I move to Madison.

Through the years I’ve played tennis, basketball, badminton, and football. I enjoy reading, and my intended major is economics. The best investment in our future is education. If I can help my campers be a little bit better students and better people I’ve done my job as a Camp Streefland counselor.

YMCA Scholarship Recipient Nidal Kram

Nidal Kram, one of this year's recipients of the YMCA Laxson Scholarship, was the subject of a recent interview on Minnesota Public Radio. You can read all about Nidal's remarkable story (including a link to the radio interview) here!

Angela Gibbs, YMCA Success Story!

Here’s a very special YMCA Mission Moment. Take a moment to read this story from Fatima Muhammad from the Minneapolis YMCA Black Achievers Program.

I nominated a Black Achiever from North High School for a “Dream Prom” contest with the Morning Show with Mike & Juliet on Fox 9. Angela Grubbs was selected as a finalist for the contest and won! We were flown out to New York this past Sunday and taped the show on Monday. The show will air this Thursday, May 8th at 9 am on Fox Channel 9. North High School’s Prom will also be taped on Saturday for a follow up story. Angela’s amazing story will highlight her accomplishments, the YMCA Black Achievers Program, and North High School.

I recommended Angela for the "Dream Prom" because she deserves to have something given to her. Angela Grubbs has endured a lot of obstacles in her lifetime. Her father has been incarcerated for most of her life and her mother is often out of the home due to her chemical dependency issues. Angela has moved around a lot in her childhood and at one point has spent time in foster care. Angela has always put everyone else before herself. She currently works two jobs to support herself and her younger brother. She is financially responsible for everything in her life and I was afraid Angela would not be able to enjoy her first and last prom because of her life circumstances.

Through it all, Angela is a very mature, bright, and resilient young woman. Angela will be graduating from North High School in June and has been accepted to Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, GA. She has worked so hard throughout her life and it is so nice to see her be rewarded for just being an awesome teen.

This contest came along at the perfect time and to a student that is ever-so deserving. The “Dream Prom” includes a formal dress, shoes, accessories, hair and make-up from professionals, a stretch limo to prom and a photography session from world-renown photographer, Nigel Barker of America’s Next Top Model.

YMCA Beacons - Making a Difference!

The YMCA Beacons Center at Anne Sullivan School in South Minneapolis served nearly 350 kids last year. Now in its fourth year, the after-school Center offers academic support, leadership development opportunities, arts, music, drama, dance, sports and recreation, and more.

One example of a young person whose life has been changed is Ladan (she is the staff member on the left of the picture in blue). She is a freshman at Edison High School who works part-time at Sullivan Beacons. The neat thing is that she is a "Beacons alumni," having gone through three years of Sullivan Beacons herself. (In fact, she has been involved at Sullivan Beacons every year it has been in existence).

Ladan is very excited about the program, and thankful for what it has done in her life. "Beacons helped me in so many ways," she says. "I was having a difficult time in middle school. My grades weren't good and I was getting in trouble. But then I joined Beacons. It was something to look forward to every day, and it really helped me turn things around. It kept me on track. And now I'm happy that I can come back and help the little kids enjoy Beacons, too."

The Spring Talent Show is a huge event at Sullivan Beacons. Many of the project areas are working now on what they'll present that day (such as Hip Hop Dance and the new drum group). The Talent Show will be held on March 27th.

Young people are able to participate in Beacons at not cost due to the generosity of our Y Partners donors and local foundations. YMCA Beacons is making a difference!

Operation Holiday Basket – Hiawatha YMCA Community Service Project with Roosevelt High School

UPDATED DECEMBER 21:

Operation Holiday Basket (OHB) has been in existence for 36 years. Gedric Merritt has been fortunate to have his champion volunteer on the front line with him to help assist in coordinating this Operation. This person is a fellow by the name of Freeman “Mac” McInroy. Mac has been a great contributor to the program for 37 years. He is a retired Roosevelt Teacher, Football and Track Coach. Last year we served 300 families in North and South Minneapolis. Mac and Gary Lewis have been long-time supporters of Hiawatha YMCA and the founders of this dynamic community service project. Many families have been impacted by their caring and sharing to feed families in need. Mac’s story is that he wanted to give back to others, because his family was served at a time when they were down on their luck.

The food is distributed to diverse groups of low income families and individuals who are mostly East African and people of color. We also help some people who are disabled and they benefit greatly from this generous opportunity. There are just over 200 volunteers that help in this endeavor; they come from area schools in the south Minneapolis. They support this event by doing food drives within the school and then they transport the items to the Hiawatha YMCA. Ameri-Corp and the Vista program also send volunteers who help support the cause.

The Baskets were assembled on the morning of December 21st, 2007 by volunteers from Roosevelt High school (students and alumni), Ameri-Corps Volunteers, Vista Program Volunteers, Community volunteers and many other volunteers from various organizations and schools. Volunteers form a supply chain from the storage area to the lower level, where the baskets are filled by other volunteers. Completed baskets are then moved to the final staging areas where a donated turkey from Cub Foods in added to complete the process.

The baskets are delivered to the families or they can pick them up from the Hiawatha YMCA on Friday, December 21st, 2007. Baskets that are being picked up will be available starting at 10am and delivery of all other baskets begins at 11.