Camps for Kids is a Kansas City-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged and special needs youth experience the wonders and benefits of summer camp. Founded in 1981, Camps for Kids has provided critical funding to area camps for the last 43 years. In 2023 alone, participating camps served more than 3000 children.
Camp changes lives. It’s that simple. It’s a place to make lifelong friends, discover new interests and develop independence and community. But camp is not always as accessible to the children who could benefit from it the most – those with disabilities or limited means. Camps for Kids’ mission is to change that by supporting Kansas City-area camps that serve these kids.
| Number of Children able to attend camp due to Camps For Kids support: | 2,577 |
| Children identified by camp staff as medically/developmentally challenged: | 1,370 (53%) |
| Children identified by camp staff as financially disadvantaged: | 1,723 (67%) |
| (some children are counted in both categories) | |
We envision a community that recognizes the unique developmental benefits of the summer camp experience for our children, that organizes to provide sufficient resources, that “takes care of our own,” and that passes this salutary process on to subsequent generations.
“As we expected camp has been WONDERFUL. The genuine smile on (my daughter’s) face in the pictures I took at drop off and the ones the counselors are sending me are testament to what an amazing thing you are doing. Thank you so very, very much! ”
“I can see what other kids have gone through and how they survived. It helps me get through & conquer. We are all survivors. That’s a gift.”
“When I'm at camp, I feel like a normal kid. Some kids don't get to go outside because our parents are just working too much and too hard. At home, I'm just watching movies all day. I don't want to get too old to come to Wildwood.”
“Without the support of Camps for Kids and the matching fund, CHD Families would be unable to provide a free medically supervised summer camp for kids with Congenital Heart Defects.”
“I look back on the struggle of my childhood and one of the most important and best childhood memories I have include the time spent at camp with the amazing men and women who treated me like I was normal despite my struggle”