Camp Loyaltown Campers Volunteer by Sharing Ideas
Once a month, Camp Loyaltown campers meet with Amanda Spletstoser, Assistant Director of Camp Staffing and Training, to share their ideas on enhancing the camp experience.
Daily activities like swimming in an adaptive pool, crafting, playing instruments, sports and games, and performing on stage make summer days at camp unforgettable. Through these activities, campers grow close bonds with fellow campers and counselors who travel to Hunter, NY, from all over the world on a J-1 “exchange visitor” visa.
But during the other seasons, when Camp Loyaltown is quiet and campers and staff are back home, there is plenty of time to come up with new ideas. That’s where a dedicated group of volunteers – returning campers who know and love Camp Loyaltown – come in.
Volunteers, including Peter Hadfield, April Kloepfer, Michelle Rudoff, and Noah Probert, work with Camp Loyaltown staff develop fresh activities, from forming a camp baseball team to creating postcards to send home. They also help choose the colors for the annual camp t-shirt and new merchandise for the camp store.
Camp “Homework”
In addition to sharing ideas, Peter, April, Michelle, and Noah leave the meetings with “homework,” such as creating a scripts for orientation videos for new campers and brainstorming about qualities they value in camp counselors.
It all started when April, an active volunteer for the agency, learned from Director of Family Support Services Savita Sharma that ideas were needed for the 2025 camp season. April was interested in the opportunity to improve camp for herself and her fellow campers and gain job experience. She reached out to her friends Michelle, Peter, and Noah to see if they’d also be interested in forming a monthly volunteer committee.
“I think it benefits camp because it’s about what the campers want,” Noah said. “This is their summer. Let them plan the summer because it makes them feel good about camp. It’s our camp.”
Michelle is excited to see the ideas shared in these meetings materialize during the summer.
“It will make us feel good because we’ll know that we helped create that,” Michelle said.
Amanda, along with the rest of the Camp Loyaltown staff, finds these meetings immensely helpful as they plan for the summer.
“Staff can come up with ideas, but it’s not going to be the same as the people we support because it’s their summer, and it’s important that they have the experience they want,” Amanda said.
Do you have some ideas you’d like to share with the Camp Loyaltown team? Email Amanda Spletstoser at aspletstoser@citizens-inc.org to find out how to volunteer.