My Nonprofit Reviews

The John Austin Cheley Foundation literally saved my daughter - her heart, her soul and her life! During Nina's 6th grade year she was beginning to struggle emotionally, as many middle school children do. She asked to get away in the summer, but our family just has never had the means for a vacation or to send a child to camp. I was desperately searching online and came across the Cheley Foundation. In less than a week my daughter was awarded a Cheley scholarship and was looking forward to a camp only two months away. Since that time Nina has struggled with severe depression. The Cheley Foundation has continued to bring Nina to camp in Colorado, and given her the space and atmosphere to heal and find her balance.

This scholarship, this camp, provides a strong foundation for Nina that lasts throughout the year. It has brought her intensely close to nature and has taught her the value of putting technology down and living. Nina looks at her future differently now as she uses nature as her great equalizer and hopes to have a career that involves the outdoors. The peace she has found at camp has allowed Nina to become a 3.9 GPA student, a balanced, hard working and respectful young woman. She already has held two jobs and spent several months working a internship - and she is only 15. We owe this, truly, to the Cheley Foundation. We could never have provided this opportunity for Nina, not even for one summer. I can only imagine how many children's lives have been changed by this opportunity that they would not have otherwise been afforded.

If pictures are truly worth a thousand words, then these few photos say it all. Upon returning home from camp in 2019, Nina wanted to start to implement family nights free of electronic devices. She had come to realize at camp how destructive the devices are to family, friends and relationships. To start the new approach to family time she set up and decorated our living room for a picnic and game night. She hung a sheet over the entry, covered the television, prepared dinner and decorated. We had an amazing evening with no interruptions and full family attention. Again, her life has been changed...