FUN Camps for Kids

I recently received an email from FUN (Friends United for Nature) and given the environmental focus of my blog and my interest in non-profits, I thought I’d write about them. James was kind enough to send me a plethora of information about FUN:

Friends Uniting for Nature (FUN) Society is a not-for-profit organization that run summer day camps off of the UBC camps. We teach youth ages 8-16 about sustainability, the environment and leadership. We focus on providing fun hands-on education and equipping youth with the skills they need to become leaders in their communities. Each week camps have a different theme, such as “Energize This!” (renewable and alternative energy), “Food FUN” (the sustainability of our choices in food production, consumption, and nutrition), and “Water FUN” (Water games and activities, to highlight the importance of water and how we use and waste it).

Activities include learning bike maintenance, building and racing solar powered cars, planting and growing our on food and veggies, sports, and leadership workshops. We also stress the importance of taking what the participants learn home with them. We have daily activities for them to bring home and talk to their parents about and complete. What’s more though, is that we work through Ashoka Youth Venture Project to offer our participants guidance and actual funding to undertake actions once the summer has finished.

It is only our second year in operation. Despite not receiving any funding this season, we have actually tripled our enrollment capacity and opened a trial camp in Victoria. We have managed to do this through the help of a ton of incredible volunteers and community partners. The funding cut, however, comes as a blow to our scholarship programme. We want to make the camps accessible to all and last year offered a third of our total enrollment to underprivileged and aboriginal youth. We can still offer a limited number of scholarships, but the exact number will depend on support from local businesses and friends.

I think the FUN programmes are great, and I’m sure they would benefit from donations and/or volunteer help. To check more about FUN Society, click here.

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