Bridging the generation gap with partnerships

Camping Magazine, May-June, 2004 by Mark H. Case, Sr.

That's how Join Hands Day came to be--a day when youth and adults volunteer together to build relationships while they accomplish something good for the community. They work together, as equal partners throughout the process, from the initial planning stages through project completion.

After the 2003 Join Hands Day, professional evaluators revealed that the experience improved the attitudes of one generation to another in more than half of the youth as well as more than half of the adults. In addition, nine out of ten participants liked the experience so much they wanted to participate in similar projects again. (See the Model Youth/Adult Partnership and resources)

As a prudent camp director, survey your campers and ask them what improvements and changes they would like to see at camp. When addressing potential partner groups, keep this list in the forefront of your mind. This is what youth want; this is what you should work towards. Whatever partner group you address about volunteer activities, ask them to get their youth involved with the planning and implementing. Children and youth see the world from a different perspective than adults do. They enjoy being involved when they know their opinions are heard and taken seriously.

Finding Partners

The community is full of organizations looking for ways to help--and get recognition. Some of the groups include: Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, local church youth and children's groups like Royal Ambassador and Awanna programs, Lions Clubs, Key Clubs, Jaycees, American Legion, VFW, and school PTAs and PTOs. The list is endless!

Making Partnerships Work

Big or small, partnerships work. The size does not matter. A partnership of one will grow into many. You know the riddle: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Partnerships are the same way. One at a time. However, the effort has to start with you. When you help others by providing speaking or other services, they will help you. The camp industry cannot wait for someone to come to the rescue. Be proactive in finding the help you need. It is out there. You just need to look, ask, and expect results.

Web Resources

* Join Hands Day

* Olave Award

* William T. Hornaday Award

* Woodmen of the World

* America's Fraternal Benefit Societies--Not-for-profit organizations with more than 10 million members in 42,000 local chapters, providing their members with leadership, social, educational, spiritual, scholarship, financial, and volunteer service opportunities. In 2002, these societies and their members volunteered 83.6 million hours and contributed $377 million to charitable and fraternal programs. Seventy-eight societies are members of the National Fraternal Congress of America, headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

Mark H. Case, Sr., C.C.D., is the camp director at the R. C. "Cliff" Payne Woodmen Youth Camp in Randleman, North Carolina. Case has bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Illinois University in forestry management and has been a camp director for Woodmen of the World since 1988. He has received numerous volunteer awards including the 40 Leaders Under 40 from the Greensboro Jaycees in 2002 and the North Carolina's Governor's Order Of Long Leaf Pine for volunteer service in 2000.