[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbjabTS5kac]
Endearing, right? How can you not be moved by this kid’s passion for the environment?

At YEA Camp, we know that as a loving parent it warms your heart to see your kid display such enthusiasm for an important cause. We also know that it can be upsetting to see your child feel so helpless over wishing they knew how to make a difference.

Don’t fret, loving parents, at YEA Camp we specialize in empowering children and teenagers to make the world a better place. That’s why we’ve devised a helpful list so you can nurture your courageous kid’s activism.

1. Make It Fun

Look Ma, activism is a blast!

The cause itself may be super serious, but your kid’s fight for the cause doesn’t have to be.

Did someone say delicious vegan cupcakes? How about assisting your child in holding a bake sale to raise money for their cause?

I’ll have three, please! Okay, let’s make that four!

Tapping into their artistic or creative talents, using social media, or getting friends involved are other great ways to make activism fun. Your kid’s much more likely to stick with their activism if they have a good time doing it.

2. Connect With Organizations

Now that your child is inspired to care about a particular cause, it’s important that he or she understands that cause and sees how others are tackling the issue.

The best way to learn is by introducing them to respected organizations that are leading the way on their respective issue.

Don’t have time to do all that research? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a helpful cheat sheet of amazing organizations that are fighting for the environment, LGBT rights, human rights, animal rights and more.

3. Listen To Your Kids… Really Listen

Children are full of wisdom if parents take the time to listen to them, and we’ve got two epic examples of parents who do just that.

In this first video, a young child in Nepal finds out that his parents are taking his beloved goat to be slaughtered, so he does everything in his power to get his parents to spare the animal’s life. His tenacity and kindness are an inspiration to behold. Imagine the trauma if his parents had ignored his pleas.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwIK7cjfVpg]
In this second viral video, a toddler in Brazil has a heartfelt debate with his mother at the dinner table about the ethics of killing and eating other animals. His points are both innocent and poignant, as only a child can articulate.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrU03da2arE]
These videos aren’t depicting children throwing bratty tantrums. These kids are sensitive souls who realize that the adults around them are harming animals, and it upsets them. The parents are respectful enough to listen to their children’s merciful pleas and agree not to harm the animals. These are beautiful moments of compassion caught on camera.

Whatever issues inspire your kids to express their passion, your support empowers them to think for themselves and to pursue their compassionate nature to be a caring person.

4. Introduce Them To A Mentor

Say hi to Shelby!

A great way to learn about a subject is to seek guidance from someone who specializes in that field. Help your child find an expert who’s willing to advise them on their journey of discovery.

This is an area in which we really pride ourselves at YEA Camp. Our talented staff is comprised of highly qualified professionals with teaching credentials and expertise in youth development, as well as accomplished former campers like Shelby, with much wisdom to impart. We give each camper the counseling they need to get their activism off to the right start.

5. Join Them!

Joyce & her mother Mildred on their way to the People’s Climate March. What an inspiring team!

What better way to encourage your budding activist than to join them in their activism? Not only can this make it more fun (see #1) and double their impact, but it also creates a supportive family culture, where it’s understood that people care about others and stand up for what they believe in. Plus, you’ll definitely have more to talk about at the dinner table than what they learned (or didn’t learn) in school.

6. Well, Join Them… Within Reason

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Fg61KWing]
No kid wants their parent hanging out with them all the time. Give them space to follow their passion independently as well. Sometimes that could mean just giving them a ride somewhere, helping them manage their schedule, or asking if they need any help.

7. Say, “Yes, You Can,” Not “No, You Can’t”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdCbYflyD68]
See all those demoralizing insults Simon Cowell spewed at aspiring singers on “American Idol”? As a parent, do the opposite.

If your kid tells you that he or she wants to reduce homelessness in your town, don’t discourage them with details about how difficult it’s going to be. Celebrate that they care about such a crucial cause, and help them set goals for bringing about that change. Twelve-year-old Megan has raised thousands of dollars with her school club for homeless people in Boston.

Kids need someone to tell them to dream big, and to help them strive for their goals, not set low expectations.

8. Help Them Believe In Themselves

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DIETlxquzY]
All too often our worst enemy is ourselves. Kids can be really hard on themselves, shooting down their own great plans before they’ve even given them a try, because they’re afraid they’re not up to the task. As their parent, you can give them the confidence they need to tackle any undertaking, no matter how impossible it may seem.

Providing a safe and loving home environment, encouragement in their endeavors, as well as support, perspective and understanding when things don’t go as planned.

9. Set A Positive Example

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zoS2IfXRW4]
Be the type of person who rescues a baby elephant who is stuck in a mud hole. Your kids will be better people with a role model like that. Whether it’s rescuing an animal (have you noticed we like animals at YEA Camp?), donating money to a nonprofit or candidate, volunteering, or conserving, the lessons your kids learn from watching you will last a lifetime.

10. Teach Intersectionality

This one’s a Level 5 on the empowerment scale, but it’s important to note that oppressive institutions—racism, sexism and so on—are interconnected and you’ll expand your child’s understanding of the world by helping them make those connections.

Does your child care about the environment? Great! Teach him or her the ways in which pollution disproportionately affects poor people and people of color, or how the environment is negatively impacted by the meat industry.

Does your child want to stop bullying? Fantastic! Teach him or her about how LGBT youth are nearly twice as likely to be bullied than their non-LGBT peers.

We need the next generation of advocates to be aware of the interconnection of the many different issues we face and to be allies for these different causes.

Best Parent Of The Year!

Thank you for being your kid’s greatest champion! We need more brave young change-makers in this world, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

You’ve raised a compassionate kid who wants to make a difference. It would be our great honor at YEA Camp to meet your wonderful young activist (the camp is open to kids ages 12-17) and guide him or her to follow their dreams. At YEA Camp, they’ll be surrounded by like-minded peers and adults who want to help them, and they’ll develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to take action on what really matters to them.

Follow the above tips (and send your kids to YEA Camp or nominate someone who you know would love it!), and they’ll be well on their way to achieving great things, because any parent should support a kid who’d really rather visit a broccoli farm than support animal abuse at the circus.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7yMZGA2lzg]

The post 10 Ways Parents Can Empower Their Courageous Child Activist appeared first on YEA Camp.

Hey everyone! I’m Lauren and I attended Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp this past summer at the beautiful Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, a sanctuary for rescued farm animals in High Falls, New York. It was an awesome experience. I learned SO much and I met so many new people while also having fun!

Lauren at Farm Sanctuary, a rescue sanctuary for farm animals in Watkins Glen, New York

A great thing about YEA Camp is that it’s 100 percent vegan, so no meat or animal products like eggs or milk are used in any of its food. This is awesome for a lifelong vegan-since-birth teen like me because, while it’s getting easier to be vegan every day, it’s still nice to go somewhere and be surrounded by like-minded people!

I know what you’re thinking. If you’re vegan, you’re probably thinking something like, “That sounds amazing! I want to go to YEA Camp!” and if you’re not vegan, you might be thinking, “No meat or eggs or dairy? That sounds horrible!” or maybe, “I don’t get it, why would they have that policy?”

Well, first let me explain a little bit about why I’m vegan.

My parents went vegan before I was born. I’ve never eaten meat or animal products and I never will; once you’ve held a baby goat, or petted a cow and realized how much they remind you of your dogs (except bigger), there’s really no going back.

How could I eat something that has been killed just so I could eat it?

Fawn, a young cow who lives at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, where YEA Camp NY 2015 was held.

I go to the grocery store and look at the meat department and see peaceful, sentient beings whose only fault was being born a cow or a pig or a chicken. I couldn’t eat someone who spent his brief life crammed in a tiny cage with no space to move. Someone who has never seen the sun or felt the grass under his feet. Someone who has seen her babies get ripped away from her year after year. Someone who has spent his or her entire existence listening to the screams of creatures being slaughtered.

And, even if the animals were raised “humanely,” death is still death.

That’s why I’m vegan. Now, why YEA Camp is vegan…

Here’s what YEA Camp’s website says on the subject:

“YEA Camp is all about changing the world, and we feel it would be hypocritical if we served food similar to the standard American diet, which has led to skyrocketing rates of diet-related diseases, ecological disasters, and cruelty to animals, among other injustices of modern agriculture.

Lauren hanging with the turkeys at YEA Camp New York, August 2015

YEA takes pride in every meal at camp being delicious, as well as modeling the sustainable, ethical, and compassionate world we look to create. We are being the change we wish to see at every meal… All of the food at YEA Camp is vegan, fair-trade, local and organic to the greatest extent possible… It is also delicious! This is in alignment with our intention to practice living in the most sustainable and compassionate ways possible during our brief time at camp.”

I can’t say it any better than that!  And the food is delicious!

Ok, so maybe you’re still concerned. (“Are we going to eat nothing but broccoli? What is there left to eat?”) If so, check out this video. Actually, you should check it out even if you weren’t thinking that. It’s pretty awesome.

You won’t notice the lack of meat, I promise! And if you’re still not convinced, check out YEA Camp’s page on its website, which gives examples of what it serves its campers every day.

PS: If you’d like to learn more about veganism, please check out the following links:

-Farm Sanctuary is a sanctuary for rescued farm animals. It also has a lot of info on veganism: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

– ChooseVeg has a lot of information on many different aspects of veganism: http://www.chooseveg.com/

Want to learn more about YEA Camp, which helped inspire Lauren’s passion for animal rights activism? Check out YEA Camp.org to see if it’s right a young change-maker you know!

The post Life-Changing Summer Camp Serves Life-Saving Food appeared first on YEA Camp.

Winter is a committed animal advocate and has raised almost half of her $500 goal. She gives 4 big reasons to attend YEA Camp, including saying,”I would like to help kids at school understand why I do not support certain companies, such as Coca-Cola and Nike and Adidas because of their treatment of people, animals and the environment. I would like people to consider the facts – I’m not going to force them.” Learn more and help her get to camp!

Twelve-year-old Raven is passionate about helping animals and addressing bullying. (She’s also Winter’s sister!) “By sponsoring me, it would help me learn to give animals the equal rights they deserve…. If you help me get to this camp, I will learn how to solve bullying without making the victim, or the bully feel bad.” She’s a quarter of the way toward her $500 goal. Help sponsor her here!

SUCCESS! Rylee’s family, friends, and a very kind mom from a camper from last year have helped Rylee achieve her fundraising goal!

Twelve-year-old Rylee writes “I have a passion for animal rights, I have been a vegetarian for 3 years, and I’m working on being vegan. My mom says that’s quite an accomplishment because I’m only 12 years old and I live in an area where the first day of hunting season is a holiday and all the local schools are closed. I am proud of myself for advocating for animals and choosing a cruelty free lifestyle, but I often feel as if I’m the only kid in the world that cares about animals. I am looking forward to attending the Animal Advocacy program at YEA Camp this August because I hope to meet other kids like me, but I need your help! I am hoping to raise at least $300 so I can attend the Animal Advocacy program.” GO RYLEE!

SUCCESS! Ashley raised her goal of $300 from family members contributing towards her YEA Camp scholarship fund! She writes, “Since I was in elementary school I have been trying to make a difference but I have found I lack the tools and skills to really accomplish my goals. By attending YEA Camp I will be able to learn new skills, meet people who are as passionate about making a change as I am, and gain life long memories.” GO ASHLEY!

SUCCESS! A generous mom of a camper last year funded Lexi’s scholarship fund!

Lexi is an incredibly committed advocate for a better experience for youth in Portland, working with the Multnomah Youth Commission to address inequities due to race, class, gender, and age discrimination, and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance to improve youth transportation options.

“I’m so excited to go to YEA camp this summer!” Lexi said. “I received a donation of $280 that will send me to camp. I don’t know the person who donated to me but I am incredibly grateful! It’s so amazing to know that people we don’t know can be so inspired by what youth are doing to create change in their communities that they would donate to send people like me to camp.”

Thank you so much for supporting these inspiring young changemakers! Your tax-deductible donation lets them know that you believe in them and enables us to offer financial aid to more campers.

We’ll be highlighting other amazing campers’ fundraising pages between now and camp here, so check back for updates. And if you know a teen who would love YEA Camp, please send them to YEACamp.org to find out more. Summer is almost here!

The post Meet These Inspiring Young Leaders Fundraising to Attend YEA Camp! appeared first on YEA Camp.

Some updates about YEA Camp 2014:

• 

  YEA Camper Madison (left) at a school event she organized to raise awareness about LGBTQ issues

  We are expanding to bigger venues in all of our locations, and yet with camp still 3 months away, our camps are a quarter of the way full. We have seen a real increase in awareness and interest in our program across the country this year and appreciate your help spreading the word!

• We are excited to be creating some powerful new curriculum for our post-camp mentorship program to provide added support to campers throughout the year and to help them take more strategic action.

• 

  Ana, a future YEA Camper!

  Thanks to the generous support of donors like you, we have already offered scholarships to several outstanding campers like Ana (left), who are so excited to be coming to YEA Camp! Ana had this to say about YEA:

“I am very active in the activist community in San Diego, but would like to find teens with similar ideologies as me. I want to learn how to successfully campaign and convey my knowledge of issues that I am passionate about to others. From extensive research on YEA Camp, I believe that it was created with teens like me in mind.” -Ana, age 14, San Diego

Ana is right! YEA Camp was created with teens like Ana in mind, and we are so greatful to our donors that we can offer amazing young people like her a chance to attend our life-changing program. We will continue our commitment to never turn applicants away for financial reasons.

Some recent exciting developments to report:

• We have hired a highly successful PR firm to work with us on getting some big media for our program! This means more campers, supporters, and demand for further expanding program.

• We have been accepted for a consulting project grant through the Oregon Organization Development Network! We are working with ODN’s amazing team of consultants to strengthen our strategic plans for long-term growth.

• We have been working with a grant writer and have submitted five proposals, with more in the works, to increase funding to our program. Being awarded any of these carefully chosen grants will help us expand our efforts to reach more young people wanting to bring about change in their communities.

• We have just hired our second paid year-round staff person! This is huge for us and we are so excited to be able to increase our capacity with more program support!

• Check out this great article about us in Metro Parent Magazine: “Camp Can Change the World!” P. 35

This is shaping up to be a great year for us and we are already realizing many of our goals and dreams. Our three camps in 2014 will have 100 teens and over 40 staff members. We can’t wait to get started!

If you don’t already, follow what we are up to on Facebook and in our e-newsletter. And if you know a young person who you think would be perfect for YEA Camp, please share our website with them! www.yeacamp.org

The post YEA Camp Spring Update! appeared first on YEA Camp.

This blog post is taken from an interview Massmoms.com conducted with YEA Camp founder and Executive Director Nora Kramer.

What is YEA Camp, and what’s your role there?
Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp is a unique, week-long overnight summer camp for teens who want to make a difference in the world. The focus of the camp is on leadership and getting active for a better world, and is for young people who care about community service, activism and social justice. My role is as executive director of the organization as well as being a camp director at the camp itself.

Are you a founder of the camp?
Yes. I founded the camp in 2009 in the Bay Area.

Where is it located?
We currently have camps in three different locations around the country — in northern California near Santa Cruz, just outside Portland, Oregon, and this year on the east coast in Charlton, Massachusetts.

Who usually attends YEA Camp?
Teens aged 12-17 who are passionate about getting involved in making the world a better place in some way. Our campers come from all across the country (and even sometimes from other countries) and choose an issue they care about and want to make a difference on when they get home. Some choose to address problems they see in their school or community, like bullying or getting healthier options in their school cafeteria, or address larger global issues like climate change or gay marriage. In addition, because all of our food is vegetarian (we see YEA Camp as an opportunity for campers to try out new ways of living sustainably and compassionately), we always attract some teens who are vegetarian and excited about being able to eat all of our amazing food. The young people who attend our program are amazing. You can check out the Camper Profiles page on our website to learn more about some of our campers.

What’s the typical motivation for choosing a camp like this? Do their parents send them or do the kids already arrive with a lot of personal motivation?
Sometimes parents find out about the camp first and tell their kids about it, and other times teens find out and tell (or beg) their parents. The motivation needs to come from the campers, though. Many parents recognize that their kids would benefit from finding a cause that they’re passionate about and seeing themselves as powerful changemakers who can really make a difference. But YEA Camp is not for everyone; it is a specialized program like a basketball camp or a math camp, which would be boring for those who weren’t passionate about those things. If the teen is not excited about the camp, it will not be a good fit.

Most campers’ motivation for attending is that they see some problem in their community or in the world and they want to do something about it. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of problems. Sometimes they don’t really know what to do or recognize that they would benefit from some training and support. Sometimes they really want to meet like-minded young people and adults to have friends who are passionate about similar things.

Campers must apply to attend, and really what we’re looking for in the application is just that they have a sincere interest to make the world a better place and are willing to take action to do so when they get home.

How long does the camp run?
Our sessions are 8 days, 7 nights. The camp is an overnight/residential camp.

What if a kid is painfully shy and yet has a cause he or she cares deeply about? How would YEA Camp benefit someone like that?
One of the things we talk about at YEA Camp is that there are so many different ways someone can make a difference that don’t require being outgoing or doing public speaking–from doing a beach cleanup to writing for the school newspaper to rescuing an animal in need. At the same time, an important part of our program is empowerment, which includes helping to remove barriers that campers might have to making the difference they want to make. For example, if the difference you want to make for the issue you really care about involves having a conversation with your principal or speaking at a community hearing, there would be an impact on that issue if you were too shy to do those things. We want our campers to choose the type of activism they want to do based on what they feel will be the most effective for the change they want to see, not based on their personal insecurities and fears, which can be worked on and overcome.

Our program has four pillars: building knowledge, skills, confidence and community. We do a lot of work on the confidence-building piece because ultimately we feel this is extremely valuable for someone who is trying to change the status quo. There will always be naysayers, and it takes confidence to stick with what matters to you (whether it be speaking out against racism or trying to implement a recycling program) in the face of disagreement or skepticism. The camp is an incredibly safe space for campers to explore themselves and take risks. Many do things at YEA Camp they would not have been willing to do before, like getting up in front of the group and doing a silly skit. We have been told many times by our more reserved campers that they experienced breakthroughs in their ability to express themselves and go outside of their comfort zone while at YEA Camp, which we feel will be invaluable to them as individuals and as people working to make a difference in the world.

Some parents might hear the word “activist” and interpret it as “troublemaker.” What would you say to them?
The word “activist” can unfortunately have a negative connotation to some, but we see activists as people who are taking action to make the world a better place, versus sitting on the sidelines criticizing or being apathetic about problems they see, and we feel our world needs a lot more people like that of all ages.

At YEA Camp, we focus on positive approaches to activism and ask campers to choose ways to make a difference that inspire them, whether it be starting a school club, planning a fundraiser, making a video to put on Youtube, or volunteering with an organization they believe in. We think these are things parents should feel proud of their son or daughter for doing. We seek to lead by example and show how we can be happy, positive people, like Gandhi said: “being the change we wish to see in the world.”

Do you have any success stories you’d like to share?
We have so many of those kinds of stories! I think all of our campers are a success story because they all leave feeling validated and appreciated for being people who care about making the world a better place, and they make friends who share their values and encourage them. But just to share a couple examples with you, we had a camper from Washington named Connor who came to camp really disillusioned about the culture of bullying at his school. Right after camp, he created a school climate survey and asked students about how safe they felt at school and their experience with bullying. He used that information to approach teachers and the school board and get an anti-bullying program put in place in his school that every student participates in on a monthly basis.

Another camper, Bianca from California, started a club at her school called Hearts for Animals that has held beach clean-ups, raised funds for the local animal shelter, done film screenings at school, and so much more that you can read about in the Activist Profile we did of her on our blog. Bianca wrote us a thank you letter, where she said, “I still recount my week at camp as one of the best weeks of my life, and remember in detail what I learned and how great of an experience it was. The whole reason why I started Hearts for Animals is because you all inspired me and gave me the confidence to do so. I don’t know where I would be without having gone through that experience!”

We have hundreds of stories like this.

What kind of parent feedback have you gotten?
You can read all kinds of feedback about our program from parents and campers on the testimonials page on our website. Parent feedback is all unsolicited; many are comments they wrote to us in an email or on our Facebook page to thank us and let us know the impact YEA Camp has had. One dad said “I wanted to let you know how wonderful and vital your YEA Camp was for our daughter! She not only loved her time there, but she came back with something which I will believe will be of lasting value to her, namely a sense that she can make a difference in the world.”

I’m always inspired by the love and support we get from parents of our campers. Many of them are blown away by the changes they see in their child after camp. We do a presentation on the last day when they come to pick up their camper where they get a taste of what their teen has been doing during the week, and many parents have shared that they are incredibly inspired and touched to hear what their child got out of camp and will be doing going forward.

What if a family would like to send their teen but don’t have money for anything like that? Are there scholarships?
Yes, we have scholarships and we will work with any teen who really wants to come to our camp, no matter their financial circumstance. YEA Camp is a nonprofit, and we work with campers to help them fundraise toward their tuition or to another camper’s scholarship. Please check out these campers’ scholarship pages to be inspired, and contribute if you are in a position to help them be able to pay for camp.

Watch a two minute video about the camp:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ4T15gx_UU]

Where can a person find out more information about YEA Camp?
At our website www.yeacamp.org or by contacting us at (503) 347-0223 or info@yeacamp.org.

The post Interview with YEA Camp founder Nora Kramer appeared first on YEA Camp.