Gratitudes and G’byes to Super School-Year Programs and Friends
Before summer camps kick off, please pause briefly and join us in paying tribute to the success of our amazing school-year programs, staff, youth participants and partners. Looking back over the past nine months, we’ve furthered our goals in Central Oregon, offering quality programs centered on helping youth thrive—everything from Camp Fire Afterschool to Robotics & STEM programs, No School Day camps, ExplORegon outdoor adventures, Teen Connects service and leadership opportunities, Kids Night Out evenings, Babysitter Trainings, plus fundraising, community outreach and special events!
SUCCESS SNAPSHOT:
500+ unique youth served through paid and free programs
$36K in financial assistance, enabling greater access to youth programs
144 unique youth served through Camp Fire Afterschool through 2 new locations: Amity Creek Magnet and, new, Bend International School
24 robots delivered for programs and 11 coaches trained across 3 partners in Bend, Madras and Warm Springs, bringing robotics to their participants through ESSER funding
924 hours of afterschool fun at Camp Fire Afterschool
82 newly trained and certified babysitters in Central Oregon
65 teens engaged in community service and in partnership with 14 different community organizations
4 awesome incoming board members, including a teen board member to represent “youth voice”
75+ volunteers, plus 33 teen volunteers, lending a hand at events, outreach activities and community service opportunities
It would be an understatement to say we’ve been just a wee bit busy. But the fact that we’ve accomplished so much, expanding opportunities for youth to access our inclusive nonprofit youth development organization programs through gracious grants, community partnerships, the growth of our top-notch staff, and an outstanding, committed board of directors, has made all these major feats more than accomplishable!
“The past nine months have been monumental from the standpoint of serving youth in Central Oregon and growing our reach—we’ve scaled out to more communities this past year and are continuing to do so, offering programs not just in Bend and Redmond but more areas in rural Central Oregon,” says Kecia Kubota, Camp Fire Central Oregon’s executive director. “The energy, talents, skills and momentum of our Camp Fire crew is infectious, translating to amazing experiences for our campers and youth participants. I
couldn’t be more proud of the entire staff—seasonal and year-round alike—that collaborated to make it all happen, not to mention our growing leadership team, the support of the parents, our community partners, and the community at large. We plan to not just keep the momentum going but build on it in even more creative, impactful ways!”
Friends: Did you know that Camp Fire Central Oregon relies on positive word-of-mouth to spread the good news about its mission and programs? This is vital to helping make sure that families current and new to our area can learn about what we offer and do. If you have a minute and wish to share a little testimonial or simply give us a review, please click here. We’d be so grateful for any words you wish to share—even a small sentence can make a big difference in the lives of the youth we serve!
That aside, thank you for all your Camp Fire love! We hope you'll join us again for the 2024/2025 school year—it's gonna be a blast!