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Help Us Celebrate
20 Years of Changing Lives!
Thank you for helping Camp POSTCARD and Volunteers of America plant the seeds of a better future for the children of Maine.
Each year, thanks to the support of donors like you, Camp POSTCARD — celebrating 20 years in 2013 — touches the lives of 150 deserving 5th and 6th graders each year throughout the state. Your gift lets kids enjoy a free week at summer camp, building skills, friendships, and memories to last a lifetime.
They’ll play in the sun, go fishing, conquer the climbing wall, build human trust and real values, make friends, learn healthier diet and exercise habits, and just be happy for a while in a deeply beautiful setting.
When you support our work, you’re making a difference in the community — and in the world — one child at a time.
 
Make a wish come true in 2013
You can also make a profound difference to Maine 5th or 6th graders if you donate one or more items on the 2013 Camp Wish list.
Check it out here >>
POSTCARDS FROM CAMP: A Success Story
Back in 2002 — not so long ago — there was a young Maine girl named Shannon who was taking up with the wrong kinds of friends, sneaking out of her home, and testing limits with her parents.
But Shannon was one of the lucky ones. She had a D.A.R.E. (“Drug Abuse Resistance Education”) counselor at her middle school who encouraged her to volunteer to attend Camp POSTCARD as a junior counselor.
“My first year at camp was pretty special,” she says today. “For the first time in my life, I got to step in and help other kids if they were having tough issues. This totally put me on the other side of the problems I’d been having. It was a whole new perspective — and it changed my world!”
 After that, Shannon went on to high school and then college — while continuing to volunteer at camp for almost another 10 years in a row. “I just wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” she says. “I could see I was helping out and doing some good in a place I really cared about, and I was benefiting personally, too.”
As a young adult, Shannon became a successful Maine school teacher, working with behaviorally challenged middle-school boys. “They were a wild crowd,” she says with a laugh, “but I really loved them and the work” — although on at least one occasion she was injured while breaking up a fight that involved weapons.
“When you’re a grown-up looking back at the struggles that young people have — including the struggles that I used to have,” she says, “you can really see how Camp POSTCARD can change a kid’s life. Words like ‘mentoring’ and ‘kindness’ and ‘quality time’ can sound corny, but they’re not: They’re what young people actually need.”
Today, Shannon has gone back to school, where she’s studying to become a licensed social worker. “My goal,” she explains, “is to work with kids in a group home.”
In 2011, Shannon married and moved with her husband to Missouri. “Missouri’s fine,” says Shannon, “except that it’s flat and landlocked. I grew up in Maine on the ocean, and I sure miss it.”
Her other goal? “To come back to Maine in 2012,” she says, “and volunteer for Camp POSTCARD again!”
Thank you, Shannon, for helping to make our world a better place for kids.
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