It all began with a simple question: “What could we do to help get more local kids to camp each summer?” This question came from one of our neighbors, a major donor to camp. Among the ideas tossed around, one sweet suggestion rose to the top: parents could buy cookies for their campers while they’re at camp, and the net proceeds would fund local scholarships. It started as just a crumb of an idea in 2018, with no clue how big it would grow.
Our kitchen staff enthusiastically agreed to bake the cookies—each box or bag containing a dozen: one for every camper in the cabin and one for their counselor. At camp, sharing might not be one of our core values, but caring certainly is! That first year, we also partnered with our local country store, offering each camper a free scoop of ice cream if they stopped by on their way home. Though the cookie recipes changed slightly over the years, the heart of the concept stayed the same.
No one could have predicted how much this initiative would grow. In our first summer, we sold over 400 dozen cookies, raising a little more than $7,000. Fast forward to this past summer: we baked 1,443 dozen cookies—over 17,000 cookies—raising more than $28,000! That’s a whole lot of cookies for our kitchen to bake and a lot more families contributing to scholarships.
And the answer to that original question—“What could we do to help get more local kids to camp each summer?”—is clear. This past year, thanks to that crumb of an idea from 2018, every local camper was able to attend a week of day camp at no cost, with additional weeks offered at reduced rates for those who applied for financial aid.
A simple idea, baked to perfection, has made a world of difference.
