“Our goal is to see children grow into competent young adults who have the confidence to go out into the world and succeed – personally, professionally, and as citizens of their communities; to see children imagine a future filled with ambition, opportunity and accomplishment.
THANK YOU for partnering with us to achieve that goal!”
– Tim Lucas, Executive Director
“It is so nice to have a place where I can just come and be myself and can be the person I feel I am meant to be.”
– Zahir, 3-time campership recipient
The founders of the John Austin Cheley Foundation (now A Thousand Summers) understood in their hearts that summer camp and time spent in nature have a profound effect upon the trajectory of children’s lives and they desired to carry this powerful opportunity forward to others. We continue to share that vested interest in the success of young people, particularly those who face significant barriers in our society.
We firmly believe that extended stay wilderness summer camp programs play a critical role in youth development, strengthening and reinforcing learning and allowing children to thrive. These types of highly impactful enrichment experiences are financially out of reach for the families we serve. We work to remove the barriers and make broadly accessible the significant growth that camp provides.
