YMCA Strong Kids Campaign (Tweet of the Week Contest)

First off, thank you for voting for my tweet for the tweet of the week contest! As Abraham Lincoln once said, “a good pun can help you win a Twitter contest.”

Anyway, the organization I chose is one close to my heart: the YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester’s Strong Kids campaign. For the past four years I have volunteered and worked at Camp Combe, a day camp with a twist: its programs were designed by a child psychologist to encourage positive character building and life skills. Also, the camp is an “inclusion camp” that supports children with autism, behavioral issues, and other special needs, integrating them as part of the normal camp activities, not as an isolated group. Counselors and staff like myself are trained extensively by an amazing staff on how to employ these character building and inclusion techniques. For example, we are trained in positive reinforcement that builds campers’ self-confidence rather than traditional discipline that diminishes their hope in themselves. As a result of a close-knit staff and extreme dedication, hundreds of campers’ lives’ are impacted positively every summer. I’ve personally seen many children with persistent behavioral or neurological issues develop social skills and confidence that I don’t imagine they could have found anywhere else. All of this is thanks to a staff composed of many volunteering or minimally-paid teenagers and adults who have share a strong sense of mission.

The camp is part of the YMCA, which also provides many invaluable services year-round to the community. We’ve talked about youth services in our class, so I think that everyone reading this post has an idea of how important youth programs like the YMCA and Camp Combe are, especially for children of lower income. As argued extensively in A Path Appears, philanthropy is most effective when targeted at early stages of development. Many children who attend the camp have the means to afford such a positive summer experience, yet many do not. Normally, these kids would be part of the lower-income group that is at a disadvantage to their wealthier peers. However, the Strong Kids campaign enables lower-income children to participate in character enriching experiences at the YMCA and Camp Combe.

I assume that Peter Singer would be fuming right now, as the small amount of money I’m donating will only partially fund a child’s camp experience, while it might be able to save an impoverished child from disease elsewhere. I fully realize Singer’s argument and have admittedly questioned my decision. However, this is a cause that I am close to and believe can have an enormous impact on a child. I believe that sometimes, we must follow our hearts in donating, not only our rational side. I’ve spent years working at this camp and hope to continue making a difference there. Likewise, I will continue to remain engaged in issues of global poverty. I don’t think philanthropy should be an either/or situation, rather a mix of rational and emotional giving and local and global need.