A typical 5-day 4-H Camp session offers upwards of 96 hours of direct, uninterrupted contact between youth and their cabin leaders/counselors.  That’s the equivalent of a family sitting down at the dinner table for 30-minutes, 196 days of the year.  The interactions offered in a residential camp/group living setting is so important to youth, especially considering the isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The time we spend with youth in the camp setting offers opportunities for those youth to feel a sense of belonging, to have meaningful conversations with caring adults, to practice generosity, group decision-making, they experience new activities they typically do not have access to at home, and they gain independence by taking on the responsibility in keeping track of their belongings and keeping to the camp schedule.

Youth are eligible to attend residential summer camp as a participant for a span of 6 years, beginning at age 9, and aging out at 14.  15-year-olds can return as a counselor-in-training, with opportunities to observe adult cabin leaders/counselors, attend leadership workshops, assist with leading some camp classes, and even more behind the scenes support of their camp session programming.  During the 2022 Program Year, 9,714 individuals participated in Kentucky 4-H Summer Camp at one of our four camp facilities. The breakdown of attendance includes: 8,144 youth, 1,071 adult volunteers, and 208 extension staff.  To breakdown attendance even further, of the 9,714 individuals: 5,560 identified as female, 4,154 identified as male, 192 were Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, 9,066 were white, 305 were black, 64 were Asian/Pacific Islander, 14 Native American Indian/Alaska Native, and 265 were Other.

In August, Spencer County 4-H took over 140 volunteers and campers to Lake Cumberland 4-H Camp.  It was a wonderful experience and the youth got to take place in a “normal” 4-H camp for the first time since 2019.  The campers experienced new opportunities for the first time and loved it!  The teen leaders shined, many in this role for the first time.  Adult leaders are already planning for 2023 and even recruiting new leaders.  So for the Spencer County 4-H program, 4-H Camp 2022 was a huge success!

The vision of Kentucky 4-H Camping is to serve the citizens of Kentucky and beyond by providing a safe environment for experiential learning opportunities. The mission of Kentucky 4-H Camping is to improve people through intentional life skill development. This will happen through: • collaboration with local, state, and national partners, • research-based methods and programming, • service-oriented practices, • long-term strategic planning, • and play.