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The Salvation Army offers camps that keep kids busy during the summer months.
When schools close their doors for summer, Salvation Army facilities open theirs wider, welcoming children for a variety of adventures. Below are a few of this summer’s camp events, activities and awards in the Western Territory.
In the Cascade Division, a group of 20 adults and 12 kids from The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, Salem, Ore., went “fishing” to raise money for camping scholarships. Calling it “Coins for Camp,” volunteers stood at an intersection in Keizer, Ore., waiting for the light to turn red. As cars stopped, they extended fishing nets to the drivers for donations. They raised approximately $1,100 in four hours.
A Salvation Army summer tradition is the divisional music camp, where many children pick up an instrument for the first time. Students receive daily instruction in music theory, participate in choral groups and take lessons in their chosen field—voice, brass instrument, guitar, keyboard or percussion. Friends and family can attend a mid-week concert, a soloist night and a final concert.
More than 150 vocalists, musicians and worship leaders arrived at Camp Redwood Glen in Scotts Valley, Calif., for Golden State’s Music and Worship Arts Camp, themed “Sing, Be Glad and Rejoice!” Divisional Commander Lt. Colonel Steve Smith spoke at soloist night.
Scholarships went to Glorianna Soriano, Junior Musician award, San Francisco South of Market Corps; Yna Choi, Junior Worship Artist, Santa Clara Citadel Corps; Izzik Yepez, Senior Musician award, Fresno Citadel Corps; and Jarius Matthews, Senior Worship Artist, Modesto Citadel Corps. Awards also went to Karen Lee, Junior Honor Camper award, San Francisco Chinatown Corps; and Lanayah Wild, Senior Honor Camper, South San Francisco Corps.
One award—previously called the Corps Participation award—was renamed for Major Terry Camsey—a brilliant musician who supported the musical development of Army corps—who was promoted to Glory on June 29. This recognition went to the top three corps whose campers received the most participation points throughout the session: 1st place, San Francisco South of Market Corps; 2nd place, Monterey Peninsula Corps; and 3rd place, Modesto Citadel Corps.
Camp Redwood Glen also welcomed over 100 children from inner-city San Francisco for a five-day camping experience that offered hiking, swimming, exploring natural wonders and roasting marshmallows. For more than 60 years, The Salvation Army has provided inner-city kids this camping opportunity.
Each year, more than 1,500 children from the Bay Area and Central California attend summer camp programs by The Salvation Army.
A team of corps cadets from Sierra del Mar Division’s El Cajon (Calif.) Corps went on the road, assisting both the San Bernardino and Victor Valley corps with their “Sonsurf Beach Bash” vacation Bible school program—one corps in the morning, the other in the evening. Envoys Gary and Evie Dobney in Victor Valley and San Bernardino Corps Officers Majors Steve and Nancy Ball welcomed the team.
Back at the El Cajon Corps, the kids at summer day camp enjoyed activities including going to the movies, swimming, ice-skating at The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center and an afternoon at the beach.
Sierra del Mar’s Wildwood Ranch in Ramona, Calif., hosted nearly 1,000 children over the summer with three community service camps, music and teen camps and boy scouting and girls’ camps.
Next year Sierra del Mar campers will head to The Salvation Army Pine Summit Camp and Conference Center at Big Bear Lake, a larger facility providing life-transforming opportunities to more children throughout the division.
