Perhaps you’ve seen some photos of our absolutely epic disco jam session at Campowerment’s Classic Camp this fall? There are so many storylines here! But if you super-zoom in — back, behind what seems to be of highest importance, you’ll see me, in a powder pink wig, on the ground, controlling the iPod with the music…weeping.
From behind the main event, I got to watch this community in action – how women whispered dance choreo clues to one another, how they giggled in the missteps; the love they shared; the pure, unadulterated JOY they were allowing themselves to have, together! That hour or so had left a profound mark on how I see Campowerment, and what impact, our way, looks like.
In the Game
In 2023, Campowerment had the privilege of moving the life force forward for 475 people.
That number’s awesome and exciting, BUT what moves me most is what I see when I zoom in on any given picture of it coming to life: to the person who is witness to one sliver of big magic; to the micro-interaction that shifts a perspective; or to the a-ha moment of self-actualization…then I zoom back out to better understand the buy-in from every camper, to the fact that they matter and belong. We’re in this game for that, and what each person does with it.
How I Know You Are, Too:
You helped fund 30 camp scholarships this year!!
Of all the numbers, that is the storyteller of 2023: that you…because you get that the world needs us at our best, and that Campowerment is an incubator of our best-ness…created the opportunity for not 5, not 10, but 30 women to find what was waiting for them at Campowerment — and to bring it home and unleash it — this year.
In a dumpster-fire world of indignity and not making space for the uniqueness of others’ experiences; in a moment that we face the very-real challenge of figuring out how to live on this planet together…this kind of news sends me waves and waves and waves of optimism for WHO WE CAN BE, TOGETHER.
We have to take a moment to acknowledge this gorgeousness that your donation helped create this year.
Louder For the Girl (in the pink wig) in the Back
Diversity
At camp’s Closing Ceremony on Oct 1, one Give Her Camper (LaShea Green), said this:
“Campowerment is what real belonging looks and feels like…THIS is diversity and inclusion.”
Each year, funded exclusively by members of this community, scholarships have allowed us to call in women who did not see themselves represented in this community prior; whose photos and stories help us call in more who walk a path like theirs. And now, seven years into providing scholarships this way, we have a community that looks like the world outside, but feels like where we want that world to go! (So grateful you keep making that happen by donating to Give Her Camp.)
Making 2024
This email is hundreds of words more than I intended to write, in prep for Giving Tuesday (tomorrow). But the pride pours out of me as I ask you, if you’re able, to please consider donating to Give Her Camp, so we can provide Campowerment scholarships for s’more women in 2024.
We don’t know how many scholarships we’ll open for 2024 — we’ll open as many as the community funds! We do know that however many we are able to provide will have exponential reach and a ripple effect we want you all (and us all) to experience in this world.
So – if you would and are able, please:
So far, you’ve funded seven (7) bunk spaces for 2024. Let’s get to 15, and go from there?!!
Thank you…so-o much…for powering an experience that creates a better world, one exceptional camp friend at a time.
From the campfire & beyond,
Chelsea & the Campowerment Crew
P.P.S. 2024 camp scholarship applications open in early 2024. Open our emails to be the first to know when they’re live!