Camp Fire Boys and Girls Councils Work with Head Start Grantees
Kathy Hermes, Child Care Program Specialist, Camp Fire Boys and Girls
Founded in 1910, Camp Fire is a national, voluntary, not-for-profit, youth development agency for children from age 2 to 17. The programs Camp Fire offers include clubs, camping and environmental programs, self-reliance courses, before- and after-school child care, and youth leadership/Teens in Action programs.
The goals of Camp Fire are to provide opportunities for youth to realize their potential and to function as caring, self-directed individuals, responsible to them selves and to others; and, as an organization, to seek to improve those conditions in society which affect youth.
Camp Fire programs concentrate on promoting environmental awareness, developing leadership, respecting diversity, encouraging healthy lifestyles, promoting personal and social responsibilities, developing informed decision-making, awakening individual potential, and inspiring vision, commitment, and action in America's youth.
Camp Fire Boys and Girls Councils currently work with Head Start grantees in 12 locations throughout the country to promote the mutual goals of family literacy. The Central Massachusetts Council of Camp Fire collaborates with the branch library in Great Brook Valley Housing Project and offers young children a place for reading. The Council, which has served 646 youth since 1989, operates a year-around enrichment program for the children who live at Great Brook Valley. The staff of the program includes youth volunteers and adult residents, including parents. In Worcester, Massachusetts, a program provides story time to Head Start children during the summer.
Camp Fire also operates programs for at-risk youth that help build self-esteem and offer a continuum of support and encouragement to young people.
To find out more about Camp Fire Boys and Girls in your area, look in the phone book under community organizations, or contact the national office: Camp Fire, Inc., 4601 Madison Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64112- 1278. For information on the Worcester program, call Sonia Dobson at (508) 753-5398.