Kids Flying High after Summer Camp Bliss

Iyahnna High Hawk (seated on the left, in black) enjoyed her summer camp experience.

After a busy and impactful season, summer is over at Camp Marrowbone, and most of this year’s campers are already back in school. Thanks to your donations, these children will be talking about their experiences until this school year ends and the next summer begins. We talked to camper Iyahnna High Hawk who was excited to tell us about her experience at Camp Marrowbone this summer.

While she loved everything about camp, she most treasured the camaraderie she experienced with other campers throughout each day. “My favorite thing this year was probably hanging out with my friends,” said Iyahnna, “I had a group of friends I would go to activities with every day. They are people I met at camp and also from home.”

Camp Marrowbone is about more than socializing and making friends. It’s about character building, too. Campers are encouraged to try new things, like The Grand Marathon.

This competitive relay race involved all campers. 2 teams competed across more than 30 different stations, including arts and crafts, archery, and even making and eating a PB&J sandwich. Each camper activity was incorporated into a competition. Through “The Grand Marathon,” Iyahnna learned that she really liked running and was good at it. “Running—that’s one new thing,” she said, “In this one activity we did, I would go to a spot, then when they told me to run, I would run with them, then I would cheer my teammates on!”

All that exercise each day makes nutrition even more important for campers, and Camp Marrowbone didn’t disappoint. “My very very favorite was the chicken sandwich with barbeque sauce and salted fries.” Iyahnna said. These delicious meals fuel the campers all summer long and keep them excited to come back.

The staff at Camp Marrowbone also have a great opportunity to make connections with campers in their cabins. Iyahnna said her cabin had 8 campers with one counselor who turned them into a family. She quickly chose her cabin counselor as her favorite staff member. “I looked up most to Eva,” she said, “Her job was to take care of us and make sure we go to bed. She helped me a lot with my problems.”

It would be enough if the only outcomes from Camp Marrowbone were for Lakota children to have fun, exercise, and socialize in a safe, nurturing environment but there is also a tradition of empowerment that may be even more beneficial. Iyahnna explained, “Learning how to be nice, kind, generous, brave, and have wisdom” are the most important things. She says those are values she is already employing daily in her school life.

These values Iyahnna carries with her are a direct result of the safe, nurturing, and empowering environment you helped create. She is just one of the dozens of children who left Camp Marrowbone standing a little taller. Please help us give this same opportunity to every camper next summer by making a gift to One Spirit today.