Caring Communities Have No Boundaries

With campers from all over the country and counselors from all over the world, YMCA Camp Letts is truly a global community. And its Caring Communities Program, generously funded by Allstate Foundation, helps to promote tolerance, inclusion and diversity among all its campers and staff members.

Caring Communities encourages understanding by introducing campers to other cultures through personal interactions with international counselors and various cultural activities. Nestled on 219 acres on the Chesapeake Bay, YMCA Camp Letts is the perfect location to bring communities together. Whether they are learning to canoe, riding a horse for the first time, or just enjoying the simple pleasures of overnight camp, campers and counselors alike find themselves bonding through once in a lifetime experiences.

In an effort to promote these experiences, the Allstate Foundation provided YMCA Camp Letts with $37,000 to expand its Caring Communities Program during the 2007 camp season. The grant provided food, lodging and camp activities for 36 deserving children, and helped an additional 20 children afford the clothing and camping gear they needed.

Allstate's donation also allowed Camp Letts to hire two diversity counselor specialists and purchase various supplies for the Caring Communities Program. In addition to daily interaction with counselors from around the globe, campers experienced activities including Brazilian Dance, Ukrainian Jewelry Design, Origami, Aussie Rules Football and an International Exploration Clinic.

With Allstate Foundation's sponsorship, YMCA Camp Letts helped all of its 2007 campers explore new cultures and new ideas. Campers looked beyond the boundaries of their neighborhoods and their countries and found a much larger community -- a caring community.