CAMP!

From the desk of GSSNE CEO, Dana Borrelli-Murray:

In high school and college, I worked as a camp counselor and as my hometown’s summer program director where I promptly hired my friends, took lunch breaks from a canoe at the town beach, and organized field trips for hundreds of youth to local air-conditioned establishments. Over four years, I only forgot one child at the roller skating rink, which I reached by payphone once we returned to camp. That forgotten camper is grown with her own family now, but I still have heart palpitations thinking about that single headcount mistake.

Last week, we kicked off a sold-out summer at our Camp Hoffman and Camp Rocky Farm. We look forward to welcoming over 700 campers, doubling last year’s numbers. Programming is rich and distinctively Girl Scouts, with badge-earning opportunities, overnights, high adventures, and everything in between. I personally am so excited—I love camp! And yes, I may even revive my lunchtime canoe breaks.

We have historic, safe spaces ready for youth to experience all the benefits of outdoor learning at our fingertips. That is why we are overjoyed to partner this summer with Pawtucket School Department, welcoming over 60 new youth for four weeks at Camp Hoffman, as well as 20 youth in foster care through our Campership Program.

We can be a good partner by sharing our greatest joys and assets—like our camps! Currently, we are working to ensure that our properties are fully accessible to all participants, young and old. This means breaking down both physical and perceived barriers to participation. We are simultaneously bettering our camps while working to promote our work in communities where people have been historically excluded from outdoor spaces. We are also honoring the great history of our camp property through authentic reflection and acknowledgment of the indigenous communities who came before. You can say we are widening and expanding our scope of understanding as well as our trail system.

Especially in this post-COVID youth development space, outdoor learning and exposure to natural settings appear to have an intrinsic effect on emotional and cognitive functioning. Spending time outdoors provides time for reflection and meditation, supporting positive mental health. Studies show that outdoor learning delivers many benefits—reducing stress, improving moods, boosting concentration, and increasing engagement at school.

GSSNE has been on a growth trajectory. In 2023, we experienced a 10% membership growth, our first in years. We are projected to serve 4,000 youth this program year, as well as over 2,300 adult volunteers. Most excitingly, our retention numbers are trending up by 40% year over year, showing that our members are sticking around, perhaps due to recent changes in our programming to ensure relevance, engagement, and inclusion.

We know that the work to make the world better is never done. At GSSNE we are committed to being a force of positive change and are ever-ready to do the work in ensuring that diversity, equity, inclusion, and access are paramount to our mission and our culture.