This seems like a great time of the year to think about the summer, and when we think about summer, we think about Camp Knickerbocker! Camp K has been a staple in our community for 36 years. Located on 65 lake-front acres right here in Boothbay, Camp K provides children opportunities to learn, grow, thrive, and build meaningful relationships. Every child deserves that feeling-- a sense of belonging, respect, and the ability to learn and play in a safe and beautiful space.

Like all of the programs at the YMCA, Y camps are available to all, regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Every year, over 60% of our campers receive a range of financial assistance. The Y is able to provide financial aid through donations to this important and impactful program.

As team leaders, former counselors, grandparents, and parents of campers, we can attest to the benefits of a thriving Camp K program and are grateful for the generosity from the community every year to support the program.

The Y has started summer enrollment for camp this coming summer. We are asking the community to support the Camp K Fund now in order offer financial aid to working families and those in need; our priority is that no child is turned away for an inability to pay when they start camp.

Last summer, even with COVID-19, the Y was able to run Camp K and awarded 315 camper weeks and an additional 238 camper weeks for our Y-Arts summer camp to working families. Did you know that gifts of:

• $1,650 sends a child to camp for an entire summer;

• $660 provides a one month scholarship;

• $255 sponsors two weeks of arts & crafts activities;

• $165 provides a week of camp for a child

• $50 purchases two lifejackets for canoeing and kayaking?

Thank you in advance for supporting this unique program; your generosity ensures that a new generation of campers will experience the life changing experience of Camp K. You may contribute a gift of any size at the front desk of the Y, online (www.boothbayregionymca.org), or by mailing a check to the BRYMCA, P.O. Box 500, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538.

We are grateful for the continued support of our youth in the region of and look forward to another summer filled with laughter, love, and growth at Camp K!

With our gratitude, The Camp K Fund Committee: Paul Cowan, Sarah and Jon Baldwin, Trish and Mike Harrison, Bob Reiser, Denise Thomson, Jonathan Tindal, Neal and Mary Verge, Dana and Eben Wilson, Erin Gray, Camp K director, Joe Clark, sports director, Emily Mirabile, Y-Arts director