“Reach Out!” is an organisation that runs week long summer camps, designed to give young people the skills to be the leaders of the future. The camps help to create confident young people who wish to improve not only themselves, but the world around them. Varying in age from 12 to 17, young people come to attend the camps in Canada and the USA from across the world. They spend their time learning leadership skills, considering and discussing important issues such as pollution and health, and helping in the local community. They also meet many other young people who have the same interests and beliefs and they frequently make friendships that will last a lifetime.
There is no average day at the camp and changes are made to the timetable, which is handed out daily, to allow room for exciting events as they come up. However, camp members generally get up at 7.30 a.m. and, once they’ve eaten breakfast, start their day with some outdoor games to get them warmed up for the busy day ahead. There are classroom workshops in the morning on skills such as public speaking, then there’s an hour for lunch at noon. From 1-2 p.m., camp members have the opportunity to select from various activities. In recent years these have included dancing, song writing, yoga and basketball.
During the members’ time at camp, there is a day known as Action Day. This is when small groups go out with an adult group leader to work with organisations in the neighbourhood. “Reach Out!” arranges the day several weeks before the actual event and matches the interests and skills of the camp members with organisations needing their help. This can involve organisations dealing with healthcare, housing, journalism or the environment, to name just a few.
Evenings are spent watching documentary films or listening to guest speakers. One of the speakers this year will be Helen Yates, who has worked on social projects around the world and who writes and sings her own songs about the social issues she is most concerned about. Helen has shared the stage with many of the world’s political and religious leaders and has many interesting stories to tell young audiences about them. Helen’s goal is to encourage the young people she meets to go out and make the world a better place.