05/17/2026
A message from our Founder and Executive Director, Stacey Sanders...
As I was getting ready for camp yesterday, I found myself looking back through photos from Camp Connect 2024. I stopped working for a while and just sat with them.
The laughter at the lake. Kids splashing each other. Siblings teasing each other, fighting, making up, helping each other try something new. Sitting together at meals all day long. Just being together.
And it hit me again that camp is not really about the activities.
It’s about the fact that for five days, siblings impacted by foster care get to simply be kids together.
For many of the youth we serve, time together is limited. Interrupted. Complicated. But at Camp Connect, they get uninterrupted time to laugh, connect, build memories, and strengthen relationships that deserve every chance to survive and grow.
Five years from now, ten years from now, twenty years from now, they may not remember every activity we planned. But they will remember how it felt to be together. They will remember feeling connected. Safe. Seen. Loved.
And honestly, camp changes the adults too.
Every year, our volunteers leave camp talking about how meaningful the experience was for them. They come expecting to give something to the kids, and they leave realizing they received something too. They witness resilience, joy, connection, and the incredible bond siblings carry even through incredibly hard circumstances.
There is something powerful about watching kids finally get the chance to just be together.
We are now just two weeks away from camp, and two weeks away from the end of our matching campaign.
We still need additional volunteers to help make camp possible, and we still need our community’s support to help us reach our match so we can continue programming for youth and siblings throughout the year.
The kids are ready. Camp is ready. We just need a few more people to say yes.
This work has always been about connection and community. One of the greatest joys of my life is watching these kids come together every year at camp. Watching walls come down. Watching siblings reconnect. Watching kids laugh freely and simply get to be children.
I am deeply grateful that we get to do this once again.
And every sibling who comes to camp, I carry with me.
If you have supported us, volunteered, shared our mission, donated, or encouraged us along the way, thank you. Truly. You are part of these memories too.
Because every story matters, and every sibling deserves the chance to stay connected.
Volunteer https://cm2ec.neworg.com/eventDetails.asp?EventNum=231&CalendarNum=11&CalendarLength=12
Donate https://mtyc.co/tv34wf
