Detroit Kids Need Camp

Before we even got married, Josh and I had a shared vision that our family would be an active part of the community of Detroit. One of the ways we hoped to do this was to connect Detroit kids to an experience at our favorite summer camp- SpringHill Camps.    For our 2012 wedding, we asked our friends and family to donate to get kids to camp instead of giving us gifts. We never imagined the life-change we would witness and the relationships we would build throughout the years of continuing this gift.

We’ve never done this on our own- each year we continue to invite our community  into the fundraising- and we’ve been so thankful for all of you that are willing to invest in Detroit kids with us. We already have 9 campers registered and hope to get 5 more to attend camp at the end of July! This will be the biggest group we’ve taken, as this year we’ve invited some additional kids from one of our favorite non-profits, Hope House Detroit. We love that camp will catapult their important mentoring relationships.

It’s really simple to join with us, regardless of your financial capacity.

1. DONATE: You can give a one-time donation or set up a monthly gift that goes right into the “Olson’s Detroit Kids” Scholarship Fund.  All the donations go directly to supporting a week of camp for each kid- approximately $700 per week.  Your donations are tax exempt and will be given to the nonprofit, SpringHill.  Please click here to donate and make sure that you write “Olson’s Detroit Kids” in the comments.  The fund is “Scholarships.” We’ve had gifts ranging from $20 to $5,000 and each one is so meaningful.
2. PACKING LIST: We want to make sure that all our campers have the things they need for camp.  They’ve been supplied with a packing list, but we know they might need some help attaining those items.  We’ve already had requests for sleeping bags, a pillow and swim trunks.  Please consider purchasing something on our amazon wish list so we can make sure each camper is well supplied.  These items will be theirs to keep after camp.
3. ENCOURAGEMENT: We like to send mail to all of our campers throughout the week and we need help!  If you’d like to write an encouraging note to a camper, please send April a message.  We’d also love to pass along names of campers to pray for during that week.

We are so honored to be a part of this and to join with you. Thanks so much for giving the life-changing gift of camp!