We said goodbye to our CPE2016 camp family last week, and like everyone else, we spent the week catching up on sleep and unpacking. However, as we think back on our week together, we realize just how many new friends we made, and how much camp magic we witnessed. We miss our campers and volunteers, and have already started counting down the days until CPE2017.
Some fun facts about our CPE2016 campers:
- We had 21 campers, 9 of whom were new to Camp Promise.
- They came from 7 different states, and the longest commute was 10+ hours of driving!
- Our youngest camper was 12, and our oldest was 28 (we called him “gramps”).
- With 3 female campers, we had our first Purple cabin in CPE history.
We also had 37 volunteers join us as counselors and program staff, taking care of our campers in the cabins and creating a schedule of activities that was intentionally designed to allow campers to try new things, make new friends, gain independence, and be creative.
In addition to our tried-and-true activities of swimming, fishing, arts & crafts, and campfires, we mixed it up and added in an intense game of capture the flag, an energetic Holi color festival, a 2-week-old birthday party for piglets (who we voted on naming Buttercup, Francis, and Pigasus), Escape The Room, a mind-reading performance, and guest tattoo artists. Also new this year was our Elective track, which allowed campers to choose from filmmaking, computer science, newspaper, and arts & crafts.
In just 5 days, our campers and volunteers accomplished many firsts, including:
- AttendingCamp Promise
- Eating a Chaco Taco (x2)
- Getting their face cast in plaster for an art project
- Kissing a fish
- Eating a veggie burger (x2)
- Holding a pig
- Fishing
- Playing poker
- Winning at poker
- Eating a maraschino cherry
- Growing so fond of so many amazing people in such a short amount of time
- Having a camp prom date
- Shooting and finishing editing a video in the same day
- Learning how to use Adobe’s After Effects
To see for yourself exactly what we spent our week doing, check out our camp photos at
–Post by Libby Brockman
