CAMP KINDNESS

Camp Kindness Day is a cooperative effort between American Camp Association, its affiliates andKindnessEvolution KindnessEvolution occurring each year on July 14, where the camp community helps to spread the word in a unified social media campaign by tagging #CampKindnessDay. As not only the YMCA but part of the American Camp Association, we along with all camps incorporate themes of kindness, compassion, generosity, and care into our programming and daily camp activities. This is an opportunity for the camp community to join together to demonstrate the great work that camps do to teach kindness in engaging, simple, repeatable, and high-impact ways that live on in the lives of  campers and staff when they return home. 

At the YMCA of Silicon Valley Summer Day Camp we along with our campers and staff take part each year on July 14th taking time to recognize the camp kindness. This year the YMCA wrote and drew postcards to fellow campers, day camp leaders and family members talking about what kindness is, heartfelt messages and pictures. Other campers and staff drew pictures or shared conversations in small camp groups about what kindness meant to them. Though the YMCA celebrates Camp Kindness Day yearly, we focus through our four core values (caring, honesty, respect and responsibility) on kindness in all of our programs with our youth, staff and families.