Today’s blog post comes from a guest writer: Linda Hanson, Ferncliff parent!

All three of my daughters, Sarah, Hannah, and Leah, have spent time at Ferncliff as campers, beginning with summer day camp. They loved being at camp, hated to leave, and anticipated going back. Whenever there was a youth retreat, they had to attend, because…. it’s Ferncliff! They wanted Ferncliff to have camp for Halloween, fall break, Christmas break, spring break (before it was instituted last year!), and on the weekends. They wanted to live there year-round.

As a parent, here’s a list of the benefits and advantages I’ve seen in my daughters from attending Ferncliff:

• Making new lifelong friends from all over the city, state, country, and world.
• Spending time in nature, admiring the night sky, sunrises, and sunsets, or exploring the ponds and trails.
• Participating in active programming, such as games, canoeing, paddle boating, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, and swimming.
• Learning about food. Everything from growing produce in the garden, cooking hobo packs and s’mores over the fire, learning about conserving food and enjoying the weekly Meal of Simplicity, to trying new things.
• Worshipping the camp way: learning about the Bible, singing, attending vespers, and doing energizers.
• Learning about green living, such as composting, electric vehicles, reducing, reusing, recycling, and the Solar Under the Sun program.
• Being creative through performing in skits, creating and building fun stuff in Arts and Crafts, and writing letters home.
• Building unique life skills. At camp they learn to live without electronics, how to care for farm animals, and how to build a campfire.
• Giving back through charity, like Ferncliff’s disaster relief and mission projects.
• Experiencing a unique education through reading, learning, and hands-on experience.
• Learning to take care of their health through learning first aid, exercising, enjoying the fresh air, using sunscreen religiously, and taking advantage of nap time!
• Growing. Camp has taught my daughters about planning, healing, working as a group, self-sufficiency, positive attitudes, handling unforeseen occurrences, taking responsibility, understanding and supporting others, leadership skills, maturity, problem solving, and sharing.

Two of my daughters are now staffers at camp. Their father and I are so pleased that our girls have been eager to give back to Ferncliff by volunteering and working there in order to ensure that other children have the same opportunity to benefit from camp the way they did.