By Nicholas Goldrosen
The school year is coming to a close, and you're excited about the upcoming week you will be spending with your troop at the local BSA summer camp. But, your troop has been unsure for months if it'll be able to get enough adult leaders, and it looks like you won't have enough, leaving your troop with a major problem. What does your troop do? Will you simply not go to camp?
Situations like these are where the Order of the Arrow's Kids to Camp Partnership comes in handy. Founded in 2011, the Kids to Camp partnership provides financial support to councils to sponsor provisional leadership for troops lacking qualified adults for summer camp. The secondary goal of this program is to involve newly transitioned adult Arrowmen in their twenties in this provisional troop leader capacity, working to keep them active in Scouting and the Order of the Arrow.
To be eligible for this program, lodges must first have an established OA program at their summer camp, under the leadership of an OA Camp Coordinator, sometimes referred to as a "camp chief". This full-time camp staff member and Arrowman is responsible for planning OA gatherings at camp, coordinating call-outs, unit elections, organizing OA service to the camp, and acting as the representative of the lodge in promoting the OA. The role is a full-time job, allowing one staff member to solely devote himself to the Order in camp.
Not only does having this role make lodges eligible for the Kids to Camp partnership, but it increases the presence of the OA at camp and can help "sell" units on the OA. Zach Zagorski, who has served as the OA Camp Coordinator for both Tschitani and Buckskin Lodges (Connecticut Rivers and Theodore Roosevelt Councils, respectively) said, "The presence of the OA in summer camp reinforces the origins of the Order and gives Arrowmen a connection to the camp, which many view as their home. It builds the OA's reputation, and the cheerful service the OA gives both benefits the camp and lends depth to the camp program. A consistently good OA program increases participation in both the OA and camp program and promotes the visibility of the Order."
The Kids to Camp Partnership begins when a lodge Key 3 and council Scout Executive determine that a lack of qualified adult leadership is preventing scouts in their council from getting to camp. Next, provided an OA camp coordinator is in place, the lodge applies to the national Order of the Arrow committee for a grant. The national committee may then provide up to four 50% matching grants to fund the camp fees of adult volunteer leaders. At the summer's conclusion, the council and lodge then file a report with the national committee detailing how they benefited from the program. This provisional leadership is drawn from young, adult Arrowmen, ideally those in the 21- 30 age range. The program, in addition to getting Scouts to camp, helps retain these Arrowmen and hopefully leads to their continued involvement in the lodge. It allows them to transition into adult leadership positions, while providing a service that greatly aids the council's camping program. Overall, the Kids to Camp Partnership benefits all the partners involved.
The Order of the Arrow is firmly rooted in the camping traditions of Scouting, and it is only fitting that we work to help as many Scouts as possible experience the outdoors in a camping setting. Applications for the Kids to Camp Partnership are now available for eligible lodges and are due June 15th.
