The YMCA of Southwestern Ontario is aiming to raise $3,000 to send 15 kids to day camp in Windsor this summer.
The camp will run weekdays Jul. 2 through Aug. 30 at Malden Park.
The fundraising is part of the broader Fill the Bus CAMPaign which aims to raise $200,000 to send 1,000 kids to summer camps across southwestern Ontario, through subsidization of the cost.
Christina Harley, VP, Development, YMCA of Southwestern Ontario says the YMCA is excited to return to Windsor this year in partnership with the city.
"Anticipating a few hundred children will be using our camp this summer. It's the one right beside Mic Mac Park, so a real common place for kids to go. It's an outdoor based day camp and we're really just hoping that we can help fill kids days with fun things to do. Get them off the couch and out of the house and out there making friendships and lasting leadership skills through our camps."
She says YMCA camps offer children the opportunity to connect with adults who they can learn from.
"They're adults who show really good skills as far as leadership, comfort. It gives them a sense of community. Another place that they feeling belonging, so not just their school base and their home, but the YMCA becomes another place where they feel that they do belong and they're apart of that community."
Harley says fundraising takes place online through ymcaswo.ca/fill-bus.
"That has a way for people for people to donate and they can select their community. So no matter where you are in southwestern Ontario, you can actually select your community to ensure that your dollars are staying local and helping kids that are coming from your area attend a YMCA camp."
Through the support of the YMCA's presenting sponsor, Mainstreet Credit Union, a generous donation of $35,000 will help make it possible for 175 kids to attend camp.
Parents looking for more information on how to send their kids to camp can visit: ymcaswo.ca/programs/camps/summer-day-camp.