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.

That’s why we were honored and thrilled to have four of our campers step up to join our YEA Camp Fundraising Team this year, in addition to all of the campers and families who have been participating in our first ever YEA Camp Volunteer-a-Thon! The Volunteer-a-Thon is an opportunity for our community to be sponsored in their activism, raising money for YEA Camp and raising awareness about their Issue of Importance. Adding an extra level of social accountability doesn’t hurt when it comes to achieving those big activist goals either! 

December is the only time of year when we ask our entire community to support YEA Camp, so we rely on year-end donations to be able to start accepting financial aid applications that are already starting to come in. 

Thanks to the support of two generous donors who recognize the importance of our work, this year, all donations given before December 31st 11:59 pm will be TRIPLED! So, a donation of $100 means we get $300. A donation of $1,000 means we get $3,000! 

We have such an incredible opportunity with this match, and such a need to be able to continue to fund our programs, so we are incredibly grateful for the YEA Camp Fundraising Team helping us to reach our goal.

Where Does the Money Go?

Before we introduce these rockstar campers, it’s important to understand why we fundraise. The simple fact is, not everybody can afford to send their kids to camp. In fact, this year, 51 of our 100 campers were on some form of financial aid. Seventeen of those campers received a full scholarship. 

At YEA Camp, we are committed to making camp accessible for all who want to be there, and to having a diverse group of campers who can learn from and support one another. This is only possible thanks to our generous donors, and we are so grateful for those who make this possible. 

Which brings us to those rockstar campers! Last year, our YEA Camp alumni jumped at the chance to reach out to our donors, sharing their experience at camp, and helping us raise money for the scholarship fund. Last year, Ashlee, Mia, and Sade answered the call and throughout the month of December reached out to our donors, helping us reach our fundraising goal. You can read more about their experience here. 

Meet the 2019 Fundraising Team

When it came time to make calls this year, Mia was the first one to raise her hand to do it again! Three other campers, also from our Massachusetts 2019 session of youth camp, joined. Here’s more about these amazing campers and what they had to say about the experience. 

Mia Jay-Pachirat, the team veteran, is a 2-time YEA Camper from New York City. Currently a high school senior, Mia is passionate about protecting the environment. She was so excited to be a part of the Fundraising Team because she “loves YEA Camp and wants to help others have that experience, no matter their financial position.” Mia also created a Volunteer-a-Thon page to raise even more funds for YEA Camp! 

Sam (left) and Mia (second from right) were two members of our Fundraising Team. Here they are at the Massachusetts session of camp this summer!

Sam Geller, a high school junior from Connecticut, is passionate about gun reform and likes to go to marches and rallies. Sam says he wanted to be part of the fundraising team because “YEA Camp was a life-changing experience for me. I learned so much about fundraising and friendship.” Check out Sam’s Volunteer-a-Thon page here. 

Mia Drumm is an 18-year-old high school senior from Louisiana who is passionate about veganism and animal rights. This was her second year at YEA Camp and her first year on our Fundraising Team. She was so excited to join the team in order to help increase financial aid opportunities for future campers. 

Fourteen-year-old high school freshman Isabella King came to Massachusetts YEA Camp all the way from Denver, Colorado. She “wanted to be on the YEA Camp Fundraising Team because YEA Camp was a really impactful experience for me, and I want to help ensure that everyone who is interested in attending YEA Camp has the opportunity to have that same experience.” 

We are so grateful for Mia, Mia, Sam, and Isabella and to everyone who donated to this fundraiser. We are so grateful for everyone who makes camp possible for so many people. 

To quote Mia Jay-Pachirat, “YEA Camp has changed my life. That may seem cheesy, but I have re-lit my activist fire, while making the best friends in the world — and all because of YEA.”

Can you help us make this life-changing experience available for more aspiring activists? There is still time to donate to YEA Camp. To learn more or make a contribution, click here. 

Interested in joining us at camp next year?

It may feel like summer is years away (especially as much of the country is hibernating in blankets under blankets of snow), but we are already planning for YEA Camp 2020 and are already accepting registrations. Check our the dates below. 

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

Right now, we are also running 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!

The post Meet the YEA Campers Paying Forward Their Activist Experience appeared first on YEA Camp.

Pizza with Miyoko’s Cheese and “more toppings than we could count!”

One way we practice every day activism is by our food choices at camp.

For some of our campers and our staff, the allure of an all vegan camp is how they heard about us in the first place. For others, our vegan food is just another blurb on the FAQ page. YEA Camp is all about social justice and, at the end of the day, everyone at camp wants to build a more peaceful and sustainable world. That is why YEA Camp is vegan with a heavy focus on fair-trade, organic, and local options. 

The food we choose at the grocery store or out for dinner with friends is one of the simplest acts of every day activism we can do. Because of that, we hire a skilled team of vegan chefs to cook us amazing food that everyone can appreciate. 

This summer, we had some incredible companies donate their plant-based products to help us more affordably showcase the very best in vegan eating. 

Thank you to…

Amy’s Kitchen is a family-owned food company that was organic before “organic” was a national certification. Pioneers of the organic food industry (and maker of endless delicious vegan options), Amy’s has been with YEA Camp since year one and we are so grateful for their support!

Another family-owned business, Butler Foods donated their famous Butler Soy Curls, an all natural alternative to meat. Our chefs traded the traditional Chicken Noodle Soup for “Soy Curl Noodle Soup” for an extra dash of heart-healthy perfection. 

Sometimes we even let campers into the kitchen for baking demos!

Chicago Vegan Foods is a 100% vegan company (did the name give it away?) From their frozen dessert line to their gooey non-dairy cheese to their vegan marshmallows, Chicago Vegan Foods has something for everyone. Thank you Chicago Vegan Foods!

YEA Camp Trivia: Do you know what vegan company Camp Founder & Director Nora Kramer named her rescue dog after? Daiya the dog approves of Daiya Foods and all the “deliciously dairy-free foods” they bring to our camp. You can even find vegan frozen pizzas from Daiya in grocery stores around the country. Yum!

Started in 1970 when four friends “opened a seven-seat soup, salad, and sandwich counter in the back of small natural food store in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California,” Follow Your Heart now offers over 60 dairy-free products in over 25 countries. We are so grateful for their support and their reminder to, “when in doubt, Follow Your Heart.” 

We couldn’t get in line fast enough for this Miyoko’s inspired vegan pizza!

Miyoko’s Kitchen provided us with many a mid-day snack. Their cheese wheels were a hit at every session of camp and we especially love this quote, pulled from their website: “Compassion for animals is at the heart of everything we do. It always has been. It always will be.”

Like Amy’s Kitchen, Tofurky has been a generous support of YEA Camp for eleven years. We even wrote a feature post about them here! Tofurky has been providing us with plant-based protein since our very first session. Truthfully, it wouldn’t feel like camp without them!

We are so lucky to have their support!

YEA Camp would not be nearly as delicious were it not for the support of these awesome companies who are revolutionizing what it means to eat vegan. Campers often tell us that YEA Camp is what propelled them to eat a plant-based diet! What an honor to help our campers become more conscious about their food choices. We are so grateful to have the support of these compassionate companies. Their dedication to making the world a kinder and more ethical place inspires us all.

The time to announce dates for YEA Camp 2020 is coming soon. Be sure to sign up for e-news to make sure you’re the first to know!

The post These Generous Companies Make YEA Camp’s Food Even More Delicious appeared first on YEA Camp.

Even if you’re lucky enough not to be targeted directly, just watching the news or even our social media feeds these days bring a daily assault on so many issues progressives care about: human rights and equality, environmental protection, animal welfare, and the state of our democracy and our discourse, for starters.

How do we cope without burying our heads in the sand?

“Self-care” has become a popular topic in recent years, but it wasn’t a term I had even heard of when I started out as an activist 20 years ago. I recently recognized that, without consciously planning it, I’ve been using some key strategies that have helped me keep going all these years, though they’re a bit different than what folks normally think of when we think of self-care. In addition to the basics that most of us know (though may not necessarily do), like eating healthy, exercising, meditation, and getting enough sleep, choosing our approach to activism and how we engage with the problems in our world can help us use our time strategically and avoid burning out.

At Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, a summer camp for social change, we have expanded our focus on self-care since the 2016 election. This year we will host our second year of YEA Camp for Adults as well, and we will make even more time for this. We will do yoga and journaling and meditation, yes, and we will also focus on how we can do activism in ways that not only make a big difference in the world but also sustain ourselves. We’ll also have time in nature and the opportunity to visit with rescued animals at the sanctuary we will be staying at. But I digress….

Here are 10 approaches to self-care that might support you in your journey as an activist and human.

1. Resist

So many YEA Campers have been speaking out against this administration.

It might seem like doing activism is not a form of self-care or is even the opposite of self-care, but resisting harm is self-preservation and helps us know we are taking action on what matters to us.

When your house is on fire, it’s hard to go take a bubble bath. We need to sound an alarm and put out the fires.

“Activism is the antidote to despair,” said Joan Baez, and taking action can not only bring about change but also keeps us action-oriented so we can protect ourselves and our community and don’t feel helpless.

While social justice issues are very interconnected, to avoid overwhelm, at YEA Camp we recommend focusing on one main issue, what we call your IOI, or issue of importance. Nobody can solve any of the major problems of the world alone, but all of our actions add up to make a cumulative difference. Taking breaks and pacing yourself as needed for you and your life are key.

To get more involved in activism opposing this administration, connect with Indivisible, sign up with 5 Calls to call your legislators, or get involved with any of the many organizations working to bring about social justice.

2. Focus on other types of activism you enjoy or can easily accomplish to see an in-person, real-time impact.

There is so much we can all do in our communities to make a difference.

Resistance activism is playing defense, stopping something bad from happening. As important as that currently is, it’s also difficult and exhausting, and a “victory” just means stopping something terrible.

We also need to proactively find ways to make good things happen. This can include volunteering at a local shelter or community organization, doing a neighborhood cleanup, teaching people what you know, or greening your school or office.

Is there a way to combine something you love to do with a cause you believe in? Or a way you could get involved that doesn’t involve convincing sold-out politicians to change their policies?

It’s also empowering to recommit to daily actions that you have direct control over. Think driving less, eating fewer animal products, boycotting harmful companies, buying less stuff, and speaking up in oppressive situations. Knowing that we are doing these daily things can help us feel OK about taking the time off we need. Try to bring humor, lightness, and joy to counter the stress associated with the issues we’re working to address.

3. Think of yourself in a larger activism context.

You don’t need to get your PhD in Social Change, but just learning about how change has happened in the past can reframe our thinking in a more long-term context. It can be humbling to realize just how many actions it takes to cumulatively bring about systemic change, and to recognize that none of us can ever do “enough.” That also frees us up to pace ourselves. Even though we may not see big results right away, each small step adds up. Two short videos about the gay rights movement and civil rights movement serve as a reminder that all of the actions so many people took led to big change.

4. Donate money.

If you’re feeling depleted or demoralized about the state of the world, a donation is essentially paying someone else to do the work that you’re not able to do. And giving not only does good, it makes us feel good — and activism that combines doing good with feeling good is a win-win that we should do as much as we can. Even better that it only takes a minute and then you can go do whatever you need to do.

Even if you are not in a good financial situation at the moment, since you’re reading this, you can probably donate $1. Maybe $10 or $100? Or more, if you can. Choose an organization doing good work (here are many we recommend), and then commission them (or us) to do more of it while you take time to do what you need to do.

5. Follow just the right amount of the right news.

As activists, we want to be generally aware of what is going on — sometimes it can be more stressful not to know — but you don’t need to know intimate details of every horrible thing happening in the world each day. Learn just enough of what you need to know for the activism you will be doing. Some specific tips:

• Remove any news apps from your phone and disable news notifications.
• Give yourself a time limit of the amount of time you can spend on the news or social media each day. Monitor it so it doesn’t get out of hand.
• Ask yourself: Do I really need to know the details of this? What will I do with this information? Will this help me to make a bigger difference, or make me feel more demoralized?
• Sometimes we need to laugh instead of cry. Watching Alec Baldwin’s dead-on Saturday Night Live performances, and critiques from Seth Myers, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, or Stephen Colbert can be as gratifying as a bubble bath. In fact, there’s actually reason to believe that satire is better equipped to critique Trump than mainstream news.

6. Build community and ask for what you need

Some of our community at YEA Camp for Adults

OK, enough about activism. We need to reach out and create tighter community than we’ve had before. We’ve currently got a perfect storm of disconnection. While so many of us communicate more with our friends by typing than talking, we also are more likely than older generations to move far away from our families and to be single later in life. Statistically, we’re less involved in community organizations, whether it be religious or civic, and we are less likely to know our neighbors. And there’s an all-out assault on just about every community of people, animals, and the planet who are not straight white men.

We need to know that we can count on others when we need it, and we will feel good to do the same for others. So meet your neighbors, try going to local events, maybe find a MeetUp, talk to people you come in contact with, connect with like-minded people through social media, and be in better touch with your expanding circle of friends and family. If you need help, there are resources to support you even in the most dire of circumstances.

At YEA Camp, we focus on giving campers the knowledge, skills, confidence, and community to make a bigger difference on their cause when they get home. We believe that being a part of a like-minded and dedicated community makes all of us stronger advocates. We want to be your cheerleader!

7. Manage your life and take care of yourself in ways that are right for you.

Typically, when we think of self-care, we may picture a spa day or yoga class, and these, of course, can be great. But we need to go deeper to assess what we can do to fully take care of ourselves.

In some ways, we all need the same basic things as a baseline, such as eating healthy food, access to clean drinking water, getting exercise, sleeping enough, safe shelter, and nourishing relationships. So many people, especially of lower income, are not getting these basic needs met.

• Evaluate different areas of life that cause you anxiety, from work stress to health issues to your home, relationships, or finances, and start dealing with the most critical ones.
• Get more rigorous doing what you need to do because taking care of ourselves is a precursor to taking care of others.
• Tackle unhealthy and develop healthy habits and practices as directly as possible to take care of yourself and your one precious life.

From stopping smoking to getting check-ups to paying bills on time, healing your relationships to pursuing your goals, or otherwise “adulting,” you are in charge of managing your life. When you don’t do it well, other things start to suffer, including your activism.

As activist hero Audre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

8. Figure out and do what you love.

YEA Camp for Adults is held at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary.

To stay in this for the long haul, we need to find ways to enjoy our lives, do the things we love, and step away from stressful situations when we need to. Many people are either not clear about what they truly enjoy doing, and many more are clear that they don’t spend much time doing what they love.

If you love to read or write or play music or be outdoors, make time to do that, even if it’s just for a few minutes a day or an hour or two a week.

One of my favorite things about our YEA Camp for Adults is that it is held at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, which provides sanctuary and some animal friends to visit with while we are there as well. Animals have an innocence and gentleness that can be an antidote to stress and help restore our energy and feeling of unconditional love.

At YEA Camp, we combine the seriousness of activism training with fun activities to model sustainable activism.

9. Pursue fun and challenging hobbies and distract yourself as needed.

Pursuing challenging hobbies is a great way to trick your brain to take a break from what it was worrying about so that it can focus on the matter at hand. Studying a new language, learning a musical instrument, creating art, dancing, reading novels, playing games, and any sort of vigorous exercise are great for this. Find something you really enjoy that gets your mind off of things, and have that be your go-to when you need it.

10. Feel your emotions — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Our compassion and empathy has led us to become activists for change, but these emotions can sometimes overwhelm us. We are not robots and cannot go numb. We also need to live our lives and enjoy the beauty and possibility that we can create in life.

Being guided by a healthy relationship to our emotions will not only help us as individuals, it will help us as activists. We’ve got to feel the good, the bad, and the ugly. That might mean crying when we need to, journaling, talking things through with friends, or seeing a therapist. It can mean being quiet and meditating or going out in nature to unplug. It also means being grateful for the countless privileges and opportunities, friends, experiences, and beauty in life. When we don’t run away from our emotions, we can run toward what we want.

Finding ways to celebrate the positives and to fully experience joy might feel difficult at times in the context of all the suffering in the world and the harm being done by the Trump administration, but cultivating happiness and gratitude, and fully appreciating the good in life can help rejuvenate us to get through harder times.

Join us this summer!

It’s been said that activism is a marathon and not a sprint. We need to find ways to show up as activists as best we can in the short term, but we also need to recognize when we need to step back, especially if we are from a community that is more at risk, when we are going through personal struggles, or when we know that we are pushing ourselves too hard or not getting our own needs met.

When the government doesn’t take care of its people, we need to work extra hard to take care of ourselves, each other, and animals and the planet too. Each of us has an important role to play in bringing about the change we wish to see in the world.

For more tips on strengthening your change-making abilities, download YEA Camp’s free ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Changing the World. Want to see how we integrate self care with leadership training at camp? Join us this summer at YEA Camp for teens or YEA Camp for Adults.

About the Author: Nora Kramer is the Founder and Director of YEA Camp. She is a long time activist who practices self-care by swimming, playing with her dog, Daiya, and eating vegan ice cream sundaes.

The post A Different Approach to Self-Care for Activists in the Age of Trump appeared first on YEA Camp.