Throughout the summer, campers and counselors have sown the seeds of community. Racing barefoot down the lake hill, singing Adirondack Blue together at council, making a giant leap over Balanced Rocks—after six weeks, shared experiences carry even more meaning. Children are now fully at home, with themselves and each other, in the Treetops community.
At the same time, campers have discovered the power and impact that this community can have on the broader world. Once a week throughout the summer, everyone shares a simple meal of bread and soup made of kitchen leftovers and fresh garden vegetables. The money saved during these Fund lunches is donated to the Treetops Scholarship Fund or to a non-profit organization researched and chosen by campers. The cumulative effect of this small weekly act of generosity impresses upon the community just how much change we can make when we work together.
At Senior Camp’s Oxfam Hunger Banquet, campers drew tickets at random, assigning them to a high-, middle-, or low-income tier—based on the latest statistic about the number of people living in poverty. Each level received a corresponding meal, from an elaborate feast prepared for the lucky few to small portions of rice and water for the lowest-income participants. This disparity between meals helped children grasp the impact poverty has on an individual and family level. It opened campers’ minds to the tremendous resilience required of people across the world who are struggling for fair access to food and other resources.
Annual Treetops traditions like community mornings, Fund Lunch, and the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, celebrate the meaning of putting others first and working together for the greater good. But community is also recognized with whimsical traditions and flights of fancy. This week, senior campers and counselors delighted in presenting the annual Senior Camp play, a homespun production that involved much laughter and creative collaboration. For Junior Camp Book Day, campers acted out the children’s classic Stone Soup at lunch time. Reading was allowed at the dining room tables, so campers had the chance to immerse themselves in their favorite book at every meal, a celebration of reading together as a community. As the days begin to dwindle, we continue to embrace the magic of Camp Treetops, savoring every moment as we look toward the final week of camp.