Sun Camp for the next forty years, and the forty after that..
For over forty years, Sun Camp has helped young people make friends with themselves and grow into confident, caring young adults.
Our purpose is to create a transmissional environment of basic goodness and warriorship open to participants of any background, by combining the power of living outdoors with the wisdom teachings from the Shambhala, Kasung, and Buddhist and lineages.
We're building a $1 million Sun Camp Fund so we can keep making that possible for generations to come.
Since 1984, Sun Camp has given thousands of young people, ages 10-16, a week of living close to the earth, under the vast sky above. They live in an open field in community with one another, sit quietly, march in step, sing loudly, and discover their inherent goodness.
Camp is organized and run entirely by volunteers, most of whom were once campers themselves, working year-round to make each program happen. This lets us keep tuition exceptionally affordable, a third to a half less than a typical week of sleepaway camp. And we never turn away a camper for financial reasons. Substantial scholarships are available to any family upon request.
Sun Camp has operated sustainably since its inception. The creation of the Sun Camp Fund is an important element of allowing us to expand our vision to support an experiential path of the Shambhala and Buddhist teachings that have made our camp so impactful and long lasting.
There are now second- and even third-generation Sun Campers, who carry the gentleness, confidence, discipline, and kindness they practice at camp out into the world. We want Sun Camp to remain, and keep evolving, to serve our campers' grandchildren and beyond.
How the Fund Works
Each year a small percentage of the fund, around 4-5%, is used to support program operations. Addtional usage of the fund, such as capital improvements and other critical needs, must be approved by consensus of the Sun Camp Leadership Group.
Friends of camp have already committed about $125,000 to get us started.
What The Fund Makes Possible
Beyond simply stabilizing basic camp operations, this fund will make it possible for us to accomplish much more:
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A place for every young person
Beyond the financial assistance we already offer every year, we want to reach families and communities who may not know camp is open to them.
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Low-impact facilities
Every summer we rent portable toilets and haul them away again. Composting toilets or a proper leach field would give us permanent, low-impact facilities that serve camp for decades.
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Far less waste
Compostable supplies, plus the dishwashing and sanitizing setup that makes reusable dishes practical. With better sorting and handling, we could dramatically cut our unnecessary waste.
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Food that nourishes
Our Machens (heads of kitchen) work wonders on a tight budget. With a little more, they could bring fresher, healthier, more sustainably sourced food to every meal.
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Adapting to a changing climate
Shelter from heat and storms, propane fire pits so we can still gather around a fire when bans shut down open flames, and wildfire mitigation and ecological restoration on the land that hosts us.
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Tents that keep out the rain
For decades we've lived in the same well-made, sturdy canvas tents, and they've served us well. Now we need some new ones, and the means to properly repair the ones we have.
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Full enrollment
Currently, each year we welcome about 70 participants in Colorado and 45 in Nova Scotia, roughly half of what our camps can hold. We could double that and bring new life to Sun Camp in France, with the means to tell our story well and dedicated resources to spread the word.
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Coming from far away
Travel scholarships and carbon offsets so campers can join us from around the world, and so staff can train together across all our camps.
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Lighter on the road
Electric trucks, so we can stop renting gas-powered vehicles every summer.
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Wearing the forms well
A uniform fund, along with pins and awards, so every camper and staff member is properly outfitted.
How to Give
Gifts are tax-deductible in both the US and Canada. (More info on how to donate in Europe to be included here soon!)
Monthly donations help us to plan our budgets ahead of time, but one-time donations are equally appreciated. Whether you give a monthly or one-time gift, please use the links below.
If you are inspired to make a larger donation via wire transfer or include Sun Camp in your estate planning, please contact Ben Williams at kasung.williams@gmail.com or 781-534-3721.
“I felt from the first moments I arrived there that I had come home – home to a place where I was not only allowed to be who I was, but somehow couldn’t be anyone else. That is the real power of Sun Camp – the thing that continually amazes me – that it makes effortless and irresistible the thing that we try so hard for: experiencing basic goodness.”
