Founder Fire

February 27, 2023
AYF facilities teams focus on solid foundations
As youth returned to Merrowvista and Miniwanca in 2021 and 2022, the facilities teams focused on how the sites could best serve participants in the …

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 …

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 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 …

August 27, 2020
Enkindled Spirits: Willky Joseph
Willky’s AYF journey began at Merrowvista when was a 9th grader at Codman Academy. In the first days of forming their new school community, Codman …

August 19, 2020
Enkindled Spirits: Lexie Hill
Lexie has grown up at Miniwanca Girls Camp and the National Leadership Conference, returning each summer and completing the Odyssey cycling trip from Michigan to …

June 16, 2020
Enkindled Spirits: Sidney Keys III
Young people of the AYF strive to be at their best. They continue to discover more about themselves and passionately pursue projects that serve their …