Four Winds * Westward Ho

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Eastsound, WA
Four Winds * Westward Ho

Four Winds * Westward Ho is an independent, residential summer camp for children located on Orcas Island in Washington State.

Every summer, we create a place where children are valued for who they are.

06/11/2026

The 2025 Four Winds * Westward Ho Annual Report is now available online.

This year’s report includes financial highlights, donor recognition, Sky & Sea updates, the renewed dock, the Ruth Brown Legacy Club, and early details about Camp’s 100th anniversary in 2027. There was so much to be grateful for.

Click the link in our Bio to read now.

Printed copies are at the mailhouse now and should arrive in mailboxes late next week or early the week of June 21.

Thank you to everyone who helps care for Camp and carry it forward.

06/05/2026

Meet Jack, our Head of Trips!

This will be Jack’s third summer as Head of Trips, and somehow he keeps getting better at it every year. Whether he’s leading campers through the San Juans or out on the Olympic Peninsula, Jack has a way of making even the biggest adventures feel grounded, exciting, but always unforgettable.

Right now, Jack is spending time in Vancouver, BC working odd jobs before heading back to school this fall to study Wildlife Conservation.

Hidden talent? Surprisingly good balance.
Favorite place at camp? The bench, so he can look out over the Sound.

Jack may be a man of few words, but with great judgment, calm leadership, and amazing outdoor skills, trips are in very good hands this summer.

06/03/2026

Meet Zach & Shannon, our Head and Assistant Head of Dock duo for Summer 2026!

Zach is heading into his tenth summer at camp (twelfth if you count JSesh), and after spending the past two summers as both a counselor and dock staff, he’s officially stepping into his first summer as Head of Dock. As a camper, his favorite class was race sail, so honestly, this role feels inevitable. Outside of camp, Zach studies math at the University of Southern California, where he’s also on the ski team.

Hidden talent? Eating an entire bowl of ghost pepper Buldok ramen noodles.
Favorite place at camp? Moonraker.

Joining him on the dock is Shannon, who is finishing up her sophomore year at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she majors in Global Studies and minors in Environmental Policy and Education. She’s also a student athlete on Colby’s Division III rowing team after walking on during her freshman fall. When she’s not rowing or studying, Shannon loves exploring Maine with friends, whether that’s apple picking in the fall, snowboarding in the winter, swimming in the lake, or hiking Acadia National Park in the spring.

Hidden talent? She’s the official lifejacket model for the Carlyn… stop by the dock this summer to fact check.
Favorite place at camp? The dock (of course).

Together, Zach and Shannon are bringing experience, energy, leadership, and plenty of fun to the dock this summer. The sound will be the place to be.

06/02/2026

Thank you, Four Winds community.

May Match has reached $132,100 for the Tuition Assistance Program through online gifts, email pledges, and checks and DAFs contributions beginning to arrive.

That means we have passed the all-time May Match record of roughly $113,670.

This is a joyful result. More importantly, it is a clear vote in favor of Tuition Assistance at Four Winds.

It says this community is willing to help keep open and expand the path to Camp for returning campership campers and new campers alike.

Every dollar beyond strengthens the Tuition Assistance endowment and increases Camp’s permanent ability to support more camperships in future summers.

Checks postmarked by June 5 still count toward May Match.

Official acknowledgments and a fuller results email will follow in the coming weeks, once everything has been reconciled. Keep an eye out for a special thank you to our donors!

For now: thank you. Truly.

05/30/2026

May Match has reached $85,355 for the Tuition Assistance Program!

An anonymous member of the Board has stepped forward with one final matching window: every dollar given now will be matched, up to $15,000.

If we meet this match, May Match will reach $115,355 and pass the all-time May Match record of roughly $113,670!

That would be a meaningful milestone. But the record is not the heart of this.

The heart is what Ruth Brown called “a little green trail leading to all of the simple things the whole world is seeking.”

Tuition Assistance is one of the ways we keep that trail open.

A one-summer campership is about $8,500. Our baseline commitment to a campership camper is three summers: about $25,500. Each year, we plan for up to 65 camperships, around 20% of our camper community.

Every gift helps meet the needs of the upcoming summer. Every dollar raised beyond this year’s need strengthens the Tuition Assistance endowment and increases Camp’s permanent ability to support more camperships in future summers.

Please give through the link in our bio, and send this to one person who knows what Four Winds gives to kids over time.

Online gifts by June 1; checks postmarked by June 5 count. If you are giving by check, DAF, ACH, stock, or another method, please let us know so we can count the good news toward this final matching window.

05/29/2026

Pictured: Another from the Archives, an unattributed woodblock print on a cardstock folder.

May Match update:

We have raised $7,214 of the current $10,000 Board Match, with $2,786 left to go before this window closes tomorrow, Saturday at 10 a.m. Pacific.

After that, we’ll begin our final push toward June 1.

Thank you to everyone who has helped carry May Match this far. Each gift supports the Tuition Assistance Program and helps sustain camperships for returning campers and new campers alike.

If you’ve been meaning to give, this is a good moment. And if you know one Camp person who would want to help before the final push, please send this along.

Give through the link in our bio.

Online gifts by June 1; checks postmarked by June 5 count. Please let us know if you're donating via check, DAF, ACH, or otherwise so that we can report the good news!

05/28/2026

A great start to May Match deserves a Throwback Thursday. These photos are from the Archive, marked 1930s and 1940s. Comment if you see any familiar faces!

In the last 36 hours, we completed the full $10,000 Match window and kept going.

Together, you gave $14,456 to the Tuition Assistance Program. When gifts went beyond the original Match window, an anonymous donor stepped in to match the extra dollars.

That brings May Match to $51,344 so far.

Thank you.

A new Match window is open now: the Board has provided another $10,000 matching grant, active from Thursday at noon until Saturday at 10 a.m. Pacific, when we will begin the final push toward June 1.

Today’s words come from Mister D, legendary former director of Four Winds. He and the late Andrew Edwards helped start the modern Tuition Assistance Program, which has grown into one of the largest campership programs of its kind in the country.

Each year, we plan for up to 65 camperships, around 20% of our camper community.

Mister D wrote this week:

“The fully funded campership endowment serves everyone’s best interest.”

And:

“There are so few really good deals these days. This is one of the few.”

That is the long view behind May Match.

Each gift helps meet the need in front of us now. And every dollar raised beyond what we need for this year strengthens Camp’s permanent ability to welcome more campers in the years ahead.

Please give through the link in our bio, and send this post to one Camp person who understands what Four Winds gives to kids over time.

Online gifts by June 1; checks postmarked by June 5 count.

"Seven Golden Daffodils" - 2017 Counselors Directed by Tom Goff

05/27/2026

May Match update!

We have raised $8,150 of the current $10,000 Match, bringing May Match to just over $36,000 overall for the Tuition Assistance Program.

This Match window runs until tomorrow, Thursday, May 28 at noon Pacific. If we complete it tonight, we will announce the next Match window earlier tomorrow morning!

Today, we want to share one piece of the work behind May Match.

Allie Torrance Okner and the Tuition Assistance Committee are actively reaching out to local nonprofit organizations to create new pathways for campers to come to Four Winds next summer. These partnerships help connect Camp with kids and families who may be ready for a Four Winds summer, but who may not yet know that Camp is possible.

As Allie wrote for this year’s May Match postcard:

“By supporting this program, donors are saying, ‘We believe in kids and in the power of camp to transform lives.’ The impact of their generosity extends far beyond one summer; it lasts a lifetime.”

Every gift to May Match helps sustain camperships now. And every time we raise more Tuition Assistance money than we need for the year, Camp’s permanent ability to welcome more campers grows.

If you know an organization that could help create a thoughtful pathway to Four Winds, please reach out.

And if you can give today, your gift will help complete this Match window.

Please share this post with one camp person to whom this matters.

Give through the link in our bio.

Online gifts by June 1; checks postmarked by June 5 count.

05/26/2026

Yesterday, May Match got off to a strong start.

Our community gave $11,245, completing the first $10,000 Match and bringing us to $21,245 for the Tuition Assistance Program through day one.

Thank you.

Today’s photo is a good reminder of what this week supports: campers out on a trip in one of Camp’s legendary "war" canoes. Trips are a special part of Four Winds that every camper experiences each summer. They ask for teamwork, patience, courage, humor, and trust in the people paddling alongside you.

The Tuition Assistance Program helps make these full Camp experiences possible for returning campership campers and new campers alike.

Our next Match window is open now: another $10,000 in online gifts will be matched dollar for dollar through Thursday, May 28 at noon Pacific.

One of the most helpful things you can do today is share this post, or send it directly to one person who loves Camp, remembers trips, paddled a war canoe, sent a child to Camp, or would want to help sustain camperships.

Make a gift through the link in our bio.

Online gifts by June 1; checks postmarked by June 5 count.

05/25/2026

Today until midnight, every dollar given online up to $10,000 in total will be matched.

Our 2026 May Match Fundraiser begins today, May 25, through June 1. During May Match, we ask our annual community to sustain and increase access to Camp for more kids. Follow along on social media to hear about special matching windows, when our matching pool of donors will match any gift to the Tuition Assistance Program dollar for dollar. Today until midnight, every dollar given online up to $10,000 in total will be matched.

Please join the full Board, the Hutton Family Foundation, and an Anonymous donor in underwriting the long-term success of returning camper-ship campers and new campers alike. If you would like to contribute matching funds for this week, please reach out and we thank you for your generosity.

Tuition Assistance is one of the ways Camp's community reaches its fullest expression, and some form of it has been around since Ms. Brown's first summers. Our modern program, started by Mister D and the late, great Andrew Edwards, has grown to be one of the largest such summer camp camper-ship programs in the country.

Each summer, we plan for the capacity to support up to 65 campers on tuition assistance each summer, around 20% of camp. It makes room for kids from from all walks of life to spend guaranteed three summers on Orcas, sharing the ordinary, important parts of a Four Winds summer: cabin life, the Dock, the Garden, the Craft Courts, the Barn, trips, Carlyn, Evening Fire, and the friendships that grow over the weeks and years.

A one-summer campership is about $8,500. A successful May Match at $100,000 would fund nearly twelve camper-summers and help keep multi-year camperships steady for families returning to Camp year after year.

Make a gift today via the link in our bio.

We thank you for your generosity!

Address

268 Four Winds Road
Eastsound, WA
98243

Telephone

+13603762277

Website

https://linktr.ee/fourwindswestwardho

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