Staff Leaders Giving Back!

Des Moines Y Camp has kicked off staff training!

The directors added two new activities for the staff this year.

The new additions prompted Y Camp leaders to give back to area communities while growing closer to one another before campers arrive.

“We wanted to spark in the staff that they need to think of the world as bigger than themselves,” said BJ Murray, summer camp program director. “They’ve been able to see that, as a staff, they’re a compassionate group and they’re able to give back."

The first project brought the staff to the Boone YMCA on June 7. The group busted out sledgehammers, safety goggles and push brooms to use while destroying walls inside an old physical therapy building. The YMCA will soon update the space and convert it into a more useful room, and our camp staff helped make that possible.

"With one of our new promises being responsive leadership, we wanted to address a need in the community, and these projects were perfect for that.” - BJ Murray

On Friday, June 10, the group boarded the Y Camp bus and headed to Johnston to help out with some projects at ChildServe. ChildServe is another not-for-profit organization that serves children with disabilities and their families. The staff worked in small groups to help out where they were needed; doing everything from disinfecting toys to reading children’s books to playing a good old fashioned game of tag. Pictured are the staffers who worked with children at the day camp.

A few leaders contributed another service project at the end of the week. During a small group session, the team put together 16 Welcome Baskets for the homeless with a laundry basket full of basic supplies like toilet paper, dish soap and flatware. Y Camp will send them off to the Des Moines YMCA Supportive Housing to help new residents.