Founder Fire

December 9, 2022
President Anna Kay Vorsteg looks back on 2022
For most of my adult life, I have kept a small paperweight on my desk that reads, “Every wall is a door.” We all need …

July 27, 2022
Enkindled Spirits: Hannah Puma
Hannah Puma’s AYF experience began when she was a small child, running around Miniwanca as her mom worked at camp for multiple summers. She couldn’t …

May 17, 2022
Enkindled Spirits: Grace Blinkhoff
Upon joining City Year AmeriCorps, each member is presented with a red jacket, which they dedicate to a person, idea, or cause that inspires them …

April 22, 2022
Meet AYF board chair DD Danforth-Burlin
The American Youth Foundation has played a pivotal role in DD Danforth-Burlin’s life. The four-fold way of living has steered her through her youth as …

March 22, 2022
Enkindled Spirits: Robert Pike
by Dana Rieck High school physics teacher Robert Pike works hard to learn his students’ names within the first three days of each semester, so …

February 18, 2022
NLC finds closer connection in 2021
by Dana Rieck National Leadership Conference participants were finally able to gather on the dunes of Miniwanca once again in 2021, albeit in a new, …

January 25, 2022
Creating Conversation and Change
While the COVID-19 pandemic brought many losses, it also ushered in new methods for creating community using virtual tools instead of live gatherings. One such …

December 8, 2021
Rekindling Community in Summer 2021
For the first time in more than a year, a familiar sound could be heard across the dunes of Miniwanca and the valleys of Merrowvista: …

November 17, 2021
AYF President Anna Kay Vorsteg reflects on summer 2021
After a long year of wait and worry, the bells of Miniwanca and Merrowvista finally rang once again this summer. They signaled much more than …

April 21, 2021
Enkindled Spirits: Daniel Gottshall
Daniel Gottshall, 10, was disappointed when he found out the American Youth Foundation would not be able to welcome campers to Miniwanca in 2020. His …

December 15, 2020
Enkindled Spirits: Kate Hampson
Eight-year-old Kate Hampson had returned home to River Forest, Illinois after her first summer at Miniwanca in 2013. Almost every day, she watched a group …

December 15, 2020
Enkindled Spirits: Taylor Eldridge
Since the summer she spent on the sand dunes of Miniwanca in 2013, Taylor Eldridge has become an investigative journalist who has written award-winning work …