Get ready for Invincible Summer

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” — Albert Camus, “The Stranger”

Since we can’t host an in-person camp experience this year, the AYF will offer Invincible Summer, a free month of online programming from July 6 to July 31 to supplement the work we do each year at Merrowvista or Miniwanca to help campers become their best selves and to connect with their camp communities.

During Invincible Summer, our online participants will:

1. Learn how to apply the principles of best self usually taught at camp to their lives at home during a summer unlike any we have experienced before.
2. Connect with the greater AYF community and their camp friends during a time when a global pandemic prevents us from gathering in person.
3. Have flexibility to attend as much or as little programming as they’d like. We recognize not everyone can commit to five full days of programming each week. We encourage them to join for as much as they can. Offline activities will be available via download and email, too.

Learn more online and register your camper for Interest Groups, Inspired Best Selves and more on Canvas, an online learning platform. 

We Must Be the Change

The American Youth Foundation stands in solidarity with communities of color who continue to bear the weight of longtime, systemic injustice and who have suffered disproportionately through the COVID-19 crisis.

We believe that we are all responsible for building equitable community. Our organization’s work is to amplify the voice of youth and encourage them to speak out and take action against injustice. We know we don’t have all the answers, but we seek to work together to educate ourselves and others and to dismantle systems of oppression to create a more just world.

Please note: We have received many inquiries about visiting Miniwanca and Merrowvista. At this time, both of our sites are currently closed and will continue to be as we follow CDC recommendations, state regulations, and federal guidelines. We understand that being physically at camp can be incredibly powerful, but we please ask that you not make plans to visit until we can open the sites safely. When we can open the sites to visitors, we will do so and communicate how and when you can visit.

Our communities, our nation, and our world are being changed daily by the coronavirus pandemic, and so too are the program possibilities for the AYF in 2020. We have come to the difficult realization that we will not be able to gather for residential programs at Miniwanca or Merrowvista this summer.

This cancellation includes summer camp at Miniwanca and Merrowvista, the National Leadership Conference, Summer Seminars for Women, and Alumni and Family Camp. Along with national leaders in outdoor programming, we are announcing that we need to make a major change of course this season. In this time of physical distance, we will offer only free online programming to connect our community until we can safely gather in person.

Read the complete message from AYF President Anna Kay Vorsteg