Friends Of Camp Anokijig Inc

Programs: See schedule o anokijig serves over 11,000 participants each year. It is a community that daily demonstrates the importance of every individual by surrounding him or her with positive values and lifestyles. Our core programs are summer camp, teen leadership, outdoor education, family outings, volunteerism, and retreats. "anokijig" is a native american word meaning "we serve", but it is also synonymous with new friends, positive values, personal growth, great adventures, and outrageous fun. "we serve" is our motto and the basis for all that we do. Anokijig's summer camp program serves over 2600 campers per summer, offering over 90 choices of activities for opportunities to learn new skills and experience a degree of independence within an environment designed to nurture and enhance social skills. The anokijig program structure promotes individuality through daily personal activity choices as well as teamwork through shared decision making during group activities. In essence, each camper participates as a citizen of the community with rights, privileges, and responsibilities. This structure along with the daily guidance of role models that strive to surround campers with a culture of positive values and positive lifestyles allows them to grow and enhance not only hard skills but also the soft skills that lead individuals to successful futures. In accordance with our motto "we serve", anokijig offers financial assistance to those in need. It is our goal that no child be denied the benefits of a stay at anokijig due to financial limitations. Anokijig's outdoor education program focuses on the outdoor and natural sciences with hands-on experiences that are designed to complement their classroom studies and meant to ignite an interest in becoming better guardians of our environment. Each year 3100 students from middle and elementary schools experience the wonders of topics such as alternative energy sources, water quality studies, forestry, and many more. Our teen leadership development program is one of our most valued core programs. This is a completely volunteer program for youth 14-17. Taking place throughout the year, it promotes healthy personal development while providing real world experiences that encourage the participants to become responsible citizens willing to make a difference. This program is funded with grants and donations thereby eliminating any fee typically paid by the participants in similar programs at other camps. Family outings and group retreats provide opportunities throughout the year for adults and children alike to enjoy fellowship and grow positive intergenerational-shared experiences in outdoor pursuits in the resident camp environment. Wholesome, active, recreational activities paired with traditional camping events like pumpkin carving, sing-a-long campfires, and individual and group contests allow for a break from the world of technology encouraging face-to-face conversation and helping to defeat the "nature deficit" often experienced by today's youth.