Community Service Camp Gives Back to Camp Gordon Clark

Last week, campers at the South Shore YMCA Camp Gordon Clark Community Service Camp worked to give back to their camp community. This dedicated group of kids spent their week focusing on camp beautification by renovating and painting a Camp Bridge.  

“The bridge is one of the most central items at camp,” said Christopher Crossen-Sills, Director of Camp Gordon Clark, “It was important for us to touch it up, and most importantly help it symbolize our camp.” The bridge was built by a group of Camp Gordon Clark counselors and Leaders-in-Training back in 2011.  

As the camp worked to emerge from last year’s COVID-19 restrictions, the Camp Gordon Clark staff was challenged to create exciting new specialty camp programs to welcome back campers with something that felt meaningful. 

Nolan Collins, Camp Gordon Clark’s Sports and Specialty Camp Coordinator, knew community service was the best opportunity to give campers a fun camp experience with a long-lasting impact.  

“We came up with the idea for a Community Service Camp, which gives the kids a great opportunity, especially at a young age, to start really knowing what it means to give back and volunteer, which is a big principle at the Y,” said Collins, “It’s a great opportunity for them to feel like they are going to leave their mark on camp.” 

Together with their counselors, campers designed the bridge renovations and completed all the painting. Each color of the bridge represents a unique aspect of the South Shore YMCA Camp Gordon Clark experience. “It ended up being a really huge success” said Crossen-Sills. “It was a way for these kids to give back to camp, and to the YMCA community.”