For my second volunteer activity this year I helped organize and run a week long summer camp for the 12-18 year old girls at my church. These annual camps (called Girls' Camp across the US) have been held for as long as anyone can remember, and are a highlight for the girls who participate in our teen program. This is my third year being involved as a leader, and I of course attended these camps as a teenager myself, though I do have to point out that the girls today have it pretty easy with their cabins, electricity, and a/c compared to our tents, bugs, and pit toilets ;) The camp was held in Ramona at our church-owned camp, Camp Wildwood Ranch. We are so lucky to have such a great facility to hold our camps at - it fits our needs perfectly and there is so much to do!
This camp is actually the culmination of roughly six months of planning between ten local congregations that are also doing work individually - I've been working with my congregation's teens for months to get their release paperwork in order, organizing a fundraiser, managing payments, running activities for the teens to check off outdoor skill certification requirements, making archery targets, helping plan a camp skit, etc. (It's been very busy). I also lent my graphic design skills and helped with the camp's graphic design needs; schedules, reference cards, logos. and diecutting vinyl name decals to identify everyone's water bottles. With 130 campers our hands were certainly full, but all the leaders take their part and help to make the experience a good one for the girls.
The theme of our camp was Survivor: Let Your Light Shine, which was done in the style of the reality TV show with challenges and immunities (though we weren't allowed to vote anyone off the camp) and plenty of spiritual and playtime activities that catered to the theme. I was assigned two major responsibilities - planning and running a camp craft (punched tin can lanterns) and organizing a orienteering activity where we taught the girls to navigate via compass and then had them compete against each other to navigate to a prize hidden in the camp's auditorium. But, the camp organizers don't let anyone sit around too long so I also had responsibilities assisting with team building activities and camp free time (helping campers off the zipline, yelling at rowdy kids in the pool, assorted errands, etc.) plus I was assigned to be a "cabin mom" over one of the eight troops of campers and I helped them with tasks that needed an adult (clogged toilets, scheduling, general info, etc.). I was also directly responsible for one of my congregation's newest campers who is a Type 1 diabetic; making sure her blood sugar was in check, getting her to make adjustments as needed, and checking on her through the night and coordinating with her mom to make sure all was well. My gratitude goes to the brilliant people who invented her Dexcom continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump as they made my job SO much easier. It resulted in little sleep, but it was worth it so that she could safety participate in our camp. I was also the designated "critter removal expert" in the leader cabin and discovered that grown adult women will shreik at cute little frogs when they thwart my attempts to catch and remove them from cabins.
In all, we were busy the whole week but as someone who doesn't mind dirt and bugs this camp is always right up my alley, and I of course thoroughly enjoy helping to make our camp a fun experience for the girls :)