This year we moved to a beautiful new location in western Massachusetts. For the first time ever, we were on a lake with not only swimming but kayaking, which the campers (and staff!) loved. These, plus basketball and Gaga, were some of our campers’ favorite free-time activities.

Our campers often tell us that they are surprised how fun YEA Camp is! We aim to show that activism needs to be sustainable. The problems of our world are upsetting, and we are honest that activism can be emotional, tiring, and stressful. To model a healthy approach to activism, we prioritize having lots of fun, in addition to learning from our curriculum.

The most common piece of feedback we receive from our campers year after year is to make YEA Camp longer. This year we listened! Granted, campers typically want it to be for the whole summer (or even YEA School!), but still. This was our longest YEA Camp ever, at 9 days — from Saturday to the following Sunday. This allowed us to incorporate more content into our curriculum and to offer more free time each day.

But the most important thing about YEA Camp this summer was how amazing our campers and staff were, and the inspiring action plans they developed to make a difference on the causes they care about once they go home. Our campers and staff came from 17 different states — all the way from Washington, Oregon, and California, to nearby Western Massachusetts — and their passion for social justice issues like racial equity, LGBTQ+ rights, feminism, climate change, animal protection, gun control, and more, gave us all hope.

YEA Camp Curriculum Basics

Much of our curriculum this summer focused on our framework of looking at 4 different levels of activism. These can be applied to any social justice issue.

The internal level of activism doesn’t bring about change directly, but it creates the conditions for it. It is the preparation we all need to do to be able to make change on the other 3 levels.

Internal activism includes doing research to understand a social problem and potential solutions to it, processing emotions about the issue so you can approach it with a clear head, understanding and owning your personal story, learning how to respond to common misconceptions and FAQs about the issue, and researching organizations working on the cause that you may want to connect with.

The individual level of activism includes actions that you can take on your own, without relying on other people to take action. These seemingly small actions don’t bring about huge changes on their own, but they add up over time and can influence others. Without many people taking individual actions, change at the community or institutional level is much less likely.

Depending on the issue you’re trying to address, this level includes anything from eating less meat, taking public transportation, boycotting unethical companies or products, buying less stuff, speaking up when someone does something racist or homophobic, or picking up letter.

The community level  of activism involves spreading the word about actions you want people to take. It can be as simple as publicizing the actions you are already privately taking.

We can publicize problems and their solutions on social media, do a school project or presentation at school, write for a blog or the school newspaper, or have an old-school conversation to get the word out about a cause and to encourage others to do something about it.

The institutional level of activism is where we see large-scale, long-term changes. Institutional change is not possible (or at least is unlikely for progressive causes) without the previous foundational levels of activism.

This includes registering and mobilizing voters, speaking at public hearings to influence community decision-makers,  setting up a meeting with the school administration, or pressuring leaders through mass protests or other forms of advocacy.

We encourage our campers to think about the institutional changes we need, as well as the individual and community level actions required to help manifest these changes.

If you want to learn more about YEA Camp’s approach to activism, download our free ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Changing the World.

Choosing Their IOI

At about the midway point of camp, each camper chooses what we call their IOI, or Issue of Importance. This is the cause they will focus on for the rest of camp and beyond. We put them in a small group with other campers passionate about that issue along with an experienced staff advisor.

Much of the second half of camp is spent working with this group to think more deeply about their issue.

Campers think about core problems related to their cause and what to do about them. They develop and practice their talking points in response to common FAQs. Along with their staff advisor, they create and present info posters to educate the rest of camp about their IOI. They brainstorm actions they could take at each of the 4 levels of activism we teach about. And ultimately they each create an action plan for how they want to make a difference once camp is over.

These action plans included starting school clubs, launching fundraisers, publicity campaigns on social media, and lots more. It was so inspiring to hear campers share these plans and their visions for the future.

We are so grateful for our amazing staff members who led our workshops, advised campers in their small groups to develop their action plans, played and supervised games on free time, supported campers with any number of issues (from homesickness to actual physical sickness) and just generally hung out and befriended our campers and served as incredible role models throughout camp and beyond.

One of the most impactful aspects of YEA Camp is just bringing together our incredible campers with our experienced and inspiring staff both to hold the space and ensure the safety and success of camp, but also to provide examples and potentially long-term connections with changemakers working on making a difference in a wide variety of ways.

Towards the end of the week, many of our campers wrote thank you letters to staff to show their appreciation for our hard work and commitment. Seeing these letters was so inspiring and validating for all of our staff.

Each staff member went above and beyond this summer, doing countless things throughout the day that may go unnoticed but helped make YEA Camp such a success. It was beautiful to see that our campers noticed!

You can read some more of our camper appreciation letters on our Instagram.

It’s always so hard to explain what a session of YEA Camp was like. From the friendships and silliness, to serious discussions and learning, to confidence-building and epiphanies, up through their action plans…. It’s impossible to capture it in a blog post.

Ultimately, the only way to understand what YEA Camp is like  is to join us yourself!

Check back on our website at www.yeacamp.org to see our upcoming dates for next summer, other programs we are offering, or to apply to work with us.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make another year of YEA Camp possible! This includes all of our amazing campers and families, staff, volunteers, and donors. YEA Camp is truly a labor of love. The impact of our work is only possible thanks to all of you! We will be seeing the ripple effects through our campers’ activism in the years to come.

We look forward to another life-changing summer, new digital offerings, and staying connected in the year to come.

The post First In-Person YEA Camp in 3 Years Was a Success! appeared first on YEA Camp.

In November, YEA Camp launched the first-ever “Volunteer-a-thon” designed to encourage people to get more involved in community service and activism, and to do it publicly with greater accountability. The best part? The Volunteer-a-thon is a fundraiser, with all money raised going to the YEA Camp Scholarship Fund. For many campers who participated, it was an opportunity to pay forward their own experience to make it possible for someone else to attend in the future.

Each year, we receive dozens of financial aid requests from passionate activists who want to experience YEA Camp but do not have the monetary means to do so. In 2019, YEA Camp granted financial aid to 51 of our 100 participants and full scholarships to 17 of those participants. Overall, you helped us fund over $66,400 worth of financial aid. 

None of that would be possible without the generous support of our YEA Camp community. That is what made the Volunteer-a-Thon so special for us. By participating, our campers were paying forward their experiences to the next summer of activists. 

What was the Volunteer-a-Thon anyway?

Instead of trying to raise money by training for a marathon or selling cookies, members of our camp community created a donor page asking for they’d ask their loved ones to sponsor to their activism. 

Mia Jay-Pachirat is a two-time youth camper from New York City whose Issue of Importance (IOI) is climate change. For the Volunteer-a-Thon, she created an art zine focused on NYC-specific solutions to climate change. 

When asked about her experience with the Volunteer-a-Thon, Mia said, “It really pushed me to keep my action plan and other little activism acts to the front of my mind!” You can read more about Mia’s experience here. 

B.T. Salle Widelock attended YEA Camp in 2019 and pledged to volunteer 30 hours for local organizations in his community. “I had an amazing experience at camp. That great experience can only be made possible with others’ help.” We are so honored that 7 members of B.T.’s family donated a total of $850 to support YEA Camp and B.T. — and thanks to two generous donors who offered matching gifts, those funds mean $2550 for our scholarship fund!

For some, the Volunteer-a-thon was all in the family. Camper Marley Goldman and her mom Gail are working to end the use of rodenticide in Washington state. Marley says, “I want other young aspiring activists to get the same kind of training and support that I did so that they can pursue whatever cause is important to them.”

We already shared with you about our amazing former campers Dima Bischoff-Hashem, Audrey Watson, and Danielle Holtz also participated in the Volunteer-a-Thon. You can read their reflections on camp and their projects here. 

And YEA Camp director Nora Kramer participated in the Volunteer-a-thon, too! Nora’s project was to reach out to at least 100 former campers from over the years to see if she could support them in her activism. Nora reported back that this was a huge success! “It was so inspiring how many of our campers shared their positive experiences of YEA Camp and even sharing that their memories from YEA Camp were some of the happiest memories of their childhood! Several donated to our Volunteer-a-Thon, several offered to volunteer and are now working on cool projects for us, and one camper even wrote this blog post reflecting on her experience at YEA Camp, looking back 5 years later! It was an honor and pleasure to be back in touch with such phenomenal people!”

You can see — and you can still support! — even more amazing changemakers who created fundraising pages here. We are so grateful to everyone who participated!

The Final Results

We were so excited to pilot the Volunteer-a-thon this year and so grateful to the fourteen members of our community who created pages and helped us raise almost $6,000! 

Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time, energy, and dollars into this exciting new program. We could not have done it without you. 

It’s not too late to make a final donation to our Volunteer-a-Thon to help YEA Camp make a bigger difference for even more people!

Time to register for summer 2020!

Are you interested in taking your activism to the next level? We’ve announced the dates for this summer and would love to have you there. Do you know someone who would be great for camp? Nominate them here!

• Youth Camp: in Ventura, California (July 5 – 12) and Charlton, Massachusetts (August 1 – 8)
• Adult Camp: in Lanoka Habor, New Jersey (July 18 – 24)

The post YEA Camp Celebrates Success with First Ever Volunteer-a-Thon appeared first on YEA Camp.

We held the second session of YEA Camp for Adults at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in New Paltz, New York.

Here are some of the highlights from YEA Camp 2019.

Our 11th Summer

This was our 11th summer hosting YEA Camp for teens ages 12 – 17 and we are so grateful for the opportunity to work with these inspiring young people. 

Our first youth camp was held at Nature’s Classroom in Charlton, Massachusetts from July 13 – 20. Our second youth camp was held at Camp Buckhorn in Idyllwild, California from August 3 – 10. 

We had around fifty campers at each youth session representing two dozen states and three countries. 

From June 30 – July 6, 22 campers from 12 states stayed with us at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in New Paltz, New York for the second ever session of YEA Camp for Adults. From yoga in the morning to meeting with farmed animals after lunch, from workshops on gender and race to trainings on communication and fundraising, our campers had the perfect mix of self-care and reflection while also learning valuable skills to help advance their activism.

We love our YEA Camp Massachusetts staff!

Between the three sessions of camp, we were so blessed to have 35 amazing staff members from 16 different states.

Our Impact

Juan Antonio Nelson is an Iowa college student who flew all the way to New York to attend adult camp. When asked about the experience, he said, “Without YEA Camp, I wouldn’t feel that I could make a difference in my immediate community. I wouldn’t have the courage to stand up for others. If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn’t have met a strong community of activists who are passionately advocating for what they believe in.”

A few months ago, former YEA Camper and current YEA staff member Ananya Singh was featured on the Perennials Podcast. In the podcast, Ananya says, “When I was 12 years old, the summer before eighth grade, I attended this summer camp called Youth Empowered Action and this is a camp for teen activists and it really was a life changing experience for me. It exposes you to so many different social issues that are going on in the world and kind of takes the approach of intersectionality and showing how all of these issues are so interconnected and then really breaking down what is possible for young people to do.”

YEA Camp staff member Ananya Singh in action at the Morristown, New Jersey Climate Strike

We also recently shared the story of former YEA Camper Leah Kelly who FIVE years after attending camp, wrote this blog post where she says, “Five and a half years ago, as a 15-year-old, I attended Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp for the first time and my life was changed immeasurably. I can’t imagine how different my life would have been from then on had I not spent that pivotal week learning what it means to be an effective agent of change and forming lasting connections that supported, and continue to support me as I navigate a chosen path of social justice and fighting for what I believe in.”

Our Brand New Program

This year, we also launched the first-ever YEA Camp Volunteer-a-thon. The Volunteer-a-thon was created to encourage our community in service and activism while raising money for the YEA Camp Scholarship Fund. 

Dima Bischoff-Hashem created an awesome Volunteer-a-thon project supporting her Issue of Importance, animal rights!

Participants created donor pages, shared what activism they would be working on, and asked their loved ones to “sponsor” them in their work. You can read more about three of our camper’s projects at this link and click here to read what one camper wrote about the experience. 

All funds raised through the Volunteer-a-thon go towards the YEA Camp Scholarship Fund which makes camp accessible for all who want to attend. 

This year, 51 of our 100 participants received financial aid and 17 of those campers were on full scholarships. Overall, we funded $66,400 of financial aid this year.  

Our Gratitude

We cannot say thank you enough to everyone who made camp possible. From our food donors to our staff to our donors, thank you. 

Helping ourselves to vegan pizza with Miyoko’s Cheese and more toppings than we can count!

Thanks to two generous donors, we also have a special opportunity through the end of the year. All donations given before the end of the year will be TRIPLED. Click here to learn more and to donate to our Scholarship Fund. 

Every year at YEA Camp, we have the privilege of meeting passionate and activated changemakers who are taking the world by storm. We feel so grateful to be a part of their story and look forward to supporting you in making a bigger difference on the causes you care most about, too!

See You Next Summer

Do you want to experience YEA Camp for yourself next summer, or know someone who would love to join us? 

We are eagerly preparing for 2020 and are excited to offer an Early Bird special registration for $250 off those who sign up before the end of the year. Do you know someone who would be great for YEA Camp? Nominate them here!

• Youth Camp: in Ventura, California (July 5 – 12) and Charlton, Massachusetts (August 1 – 8)
• Adult Camp: in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey (July 18 – 24)

See you next summer!

The post Thank You for Another Great Year of YEA appeared first on YEA Camp.

As the decade comes to a close, I reflect on the experiences that got me where I am today, as an activist and as a person. Five and a half years ago, as a 15-year-old, I attended Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp for the first time and my life was changed immeasurably. I can’t imagine how different my life would have been from then on had I not spent that pivotal week learning what it means to be an effective agent of change and forming lasting connections that supported, and continue to support me, as I navigate a chosen path of social justice and fighting for what I believe in.

Call to Activism

Leah Kelly started a successful animal advocacy club in high school after attending YEA Camp.

From the youngest age I can remember, I had always felt the need to stand against things I felt were unjust, but I didn’t really know how to put these feelings into words or actions. YEA Camp gave me the guidance, tools, and encouragement that led me to become a true activist by showing me what it means to turn empathy and passion into social change. It trained me in critical skills such as public speaking, effective communication, “elevator” pitches, leafleting, tabling, campaigning, organizing, and leadership. YEA Camp provided me with key resources such as social networking, data, insight and knowledge, club starter kits, support groups, and incredible and inspiring lifelong mentors and friends. 

It takes a look back to realize that that summer of 2014 kickstarted, in some ways both overtly and indirectly, the journey I’ve chosen to pursue long into the future. The fall after I attended YEA Camp for the first time, I founded the animal rights club that I led for the rest of my three years of high school, an experience that truly ignited my leadership abilities and the feeling of self-empowerment I needed to believe I could really make a difference. YEA Camp inspired me to become fully vegan, an element of my life today that is most important to me. After I attended another session the next summer, YEA Camp helped me create and spearhead a plan to get the entire public school system in my town to implement Meatless Mondays. It was a success! We convinced the entire school district to implement Meatless Mondays! 

YEA Camp in “the Real World”

Sometime during my time volunteering, supporting, and promoting nonprofit organizations in high school, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to continue doing this for the rest of my life. I want to dedicate myself to social justice activism. There are so many injustices in the world, but as YEA Camp taught me, every person can make a difference. I am particularly invested in fighting for animal rights, and meeting so many vegan activists at YEA Camp made me feel less alone and more hopeful about our collective ability to improve the treatment of non-human animals. 

After attending YEA Camp, Leah Kelly got her entire school district to implement Meatless Mondays!

Since graduating high school, I chose to attend a private liberal arts college that I believe embodies the spirit of social justice and welcomes students who sometimes feel on the outskirts of society, empowering them to thrive in a non-judgmental space. Pitzer College in Claremont, California has often felt like YEA Camp to me in its supportive community and composition of young people who are dedicated to caring about and working to end oppression of all forms. I can’t be sure I would have ended up at this college, or where I am in life at all, had YEA Camp not turned me in the direction I needed to go. 

Thank You, YEA Camp

Half a decade later, as the end of the 2010s approaches, I can only think back and feel grateful for everything that has gotten me to this place and point in time. I am so thankful for YEA Camp Director Nora Kramer’s dedicated vision to empowering youth to become the next benevolent, impassioned leaders of change. I can only imagine where I will be in another five years, but I do know one thing for sure: you will find me fighting for justice as hard as I ever have.

Leah Kelly is a current junior at Pitzer College in southern California, where she is majoring in sociology and international and intercultural studies with a minor in French. She just returned from a semester studying abroad in Paris. Leah is from Connecticut, where her mom, dad, younger sister, dog, and two cats reside. She is a passionate vegan animal rights activist and active member of her college’s animal rights club. Leah enjoys include being with animals, playing trumpet in concert band and jazz band, creative writing, making art, watching T.V., learning new things, exploring new places, and spending time with friends and family. She attended YEA Camp in 2014 and 2015, served on its Youth Advisory Board, and was the first camper editor for the YEA Camp blog.

We are so grateful we met Leah. If you know of any tween/teen, aged 12-17, who has a passion in activism, whether it be for animal rights, feminism, LGBTQ, racial justice, environmentalism, or any other topic, check out yeacamp.org to find out how to sign up for this week-long camp, held this summer in California and Massachusetts. Register by the end of the year to earn an early-bird discount of $250 or nominate someone who would be great for camp here!

The post Looking Back at YEA Camp 5 Years Later appeared first on YEA Camp.

We’re inspired to share these responses with you and hope you will keep them in mind as we reach out to our community to ask for the financial support to be able to continue offering YEA Camp for everyone who wants to attend. All donations made until the end of the year will be tripled by two generous donors!

If Not for YEA Camp…

YEA Camper Sarah Goody has become a leading activist in the national #climatestrike campaign, having led strikes in the Bay Area for more than 20 weeks! Sarah said “If not for YEA Camp, I would not have the courage and confidence to take action. YEA Camp provided me with the fundamentals of activism that were crucial to getting me to where I am today. YEA Camp changed the way I saw the world.” (OK, we can retire now!)

Now that YEA Camp runs camps for adults, we are thrilled to be able to make an impact for folks 18 and up! Juan Antonio Nelson, a college student who attended YEA Camp for Adults last year, said: “Without YEA Camp, I wouldn’t feel that I could make a difference in my immediate community. I wouldn’t have the courage to stand up for others. If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn’t have met a strong community of activists who are passionately advocating for what they believe in. I wouldn’t have had the courage to organize a film screening with my fraternity that speaks about toxic masculinity. I wouldn’t have had the courage to organize an open dialogue/forum with other males on my college campus to speak about masculinity and what we can do to solve the problem.” We need more Juan Antonios!

Hannah Rosenberg was a camper as a 17-year-old and this summer returned as a college student 2 years later to be one of our assistant chefs. We love having former campers join us on staff! Hannah said “If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn’t realize the potential every single person has to make a difference. I now have an improved confidence to take action and to be an outspoken example for the changes I wish to see in the world.”

Elise Buellesbach has been on fire since attending YEA Camp this summer, meeting with her Congressional representatives and advocating for stronger requirements for food labeling, which are extra important for people like her with serious food allergies — a topic she educated us all about at YEA Camp this summer! Elise said “If not for YEA Camp, I would not have been reminded of the other people who are also passionately working for change on a daily basis, as well as felt inspired to continue to work for a better tomorrow.”

Fifteen-year-old Esmee Halsted came all the way from Colorado to our camp in Massachusetts last year, and we’re so glad she did! “If not for YEA Camp, I don’t think I would have realized my full potential. The incredibly supportive people and environment at YEA Camp was the first time I ever felt comfortable being 100% myself. I guess you could say it was the first time I was ‘loud and proud.’ I was never judged, always included, and free to communicate in the way that is uniquely me.”

Another participant at our YEA Camp for Adults last year, Brianna Quezada told us that “If not for YEA Camp, I would not be aware of most of the problems that don’t directly affect me and the different things I can do to not only raise awareness, but to also implement changes.”  We love that so many adults have gotten similar value from attending YEA Camp for Adults as our teen campers have! YEA Camp’s curriculum focuses on developing knowledge, skills, confidence, and community, and most people regardless of age, unfortunately, haven’t learned these things in school, college, or elsewhere, which is why we started YEA Camp for Adults in the first place!

Danielle Holtz was a camper at age 17 and in the 5 years since then, she has held just about every role we have and even other ones that we created just for her or that she created herself! She’s been a counselor-in-training, counselor, Operations Manager, blog editor, intern, Youth Advisory Board member, and founder of the youth fundraising and publicity teams.

Danielle says that “If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn’t understand the issues that are so important to changing society, nor would I have met many of my best friends.” We at YEA Camp don’t want to contemplate the question “If not for Danielle.”

YEA Camp has the most amazing staff, and we love that they get a lot of value from their experience as well! (We’ll start hiring after the new year, if you’re interested!) One of our awesome chefs from this past summer, Shira Golan, shared that if not for YEA Camp, “I wouldn’t have met such amazing, likeminded and passionate people and probably would never have learned to cut correctly (thanks Jeri :)” Ha ha! We are glad Shira learned a lot at YEA Camp — we sure enjoyed her cooking!

Now 18-year-old Lily Unverzagt, who is an advocate for access to mental health services and equality and positivity for the LGBTQ community, told us that “If not for YEA Camp, I would have given up on myself and others, so thank you YEA Camp for everything you have done for me and all my fellow campers.”

How inspiring are these stories?! They motivate us to keep at it and continue to make YEA Camp the most effective program we can and available to as many people as possible. 

Help us Bring YEA Camp to More Activists

Now through the end of the year, you can help us impact even more lives through the YEA Camp scholarship fund. Last year, 51 of our 100 campers were on some form of financial aid, and 17 of them were on a full scholarship. At YEA Camp, we stand by our values of accessibility and want to make sure that anyone who wants to be at camp can be at camp. We can only do that with your help, though.

We are thrilled that when you make a tax-deductible contribution to YEA Camp between now and the end of the year, your donation will be TRIPLED thanks to the generous support of two of our most committed donors. To donate, just go to YEACamp.org/donate and the donation will automatically be matched! We are so grateful for your support.

Join us at YEA Camp

Do you want to experience YEA Camp for yourself next summer, or know someone who would love to join us?

We recently announced our 2020 dates with an Early Bird special registration for $250 off those who sign up before the end of the year. Do you know someone who would be great for YEA Camp? Nominate them here!

• Youth Camp: in Ventura, California (July 5 – 12) and Charlton, Massachusetts (August 1 – 8)
• Adult Camp: in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey (July 18 – 24)

Every year at YEA Camp, we have the privilege of meeting passionate and activated changemakers who are taking the world by storm. We feel so grateful to be a part of their story and look forward to supporting you in making a bigger difference on the causes you care most about, too!

The post We Asked Our Campers to Finish This Sentence appeared first on YEA Camp.