INDIANAPOLIS — Camptown is a youth development camp in Indianapolis that challenges, mentors and teaches kids about life through nature programs and outdoor adventures.
"We love seeing the joy that they have when they get in a canoe for the first time," said Brent Freeman, president and executive director of Camptown. "And maybe they're splashing their counselor for the first time, which is a blast, or the smile when they pull that fish out of the water, and it's wiggling, and they're nervous because they don't want to touch it."
It's also about building friendships and having fun.
"We call it purposeful adventures," Freeman said. "And so there are health benefits, there are physical benefits, there are social and emotional benefits. And so those are some of the things that we're sharing with kids while they're out at our day camps and at our overnight camps. That can be things like less stress and dealing with life's troubles that come our way, things like lower heart rates and lower blood pressure, you know, from being calmed by nature's harmony and the peace of being outside."
Volunteers, like Darrell Gibson, have great reasons to come back every year.
"Out here with the kids soaking up some sun, showing them things that I didn't have growing up, or when you live in the city, you don't see a lot of this campy, camaraderie," Gibson said.
"Removing the screen or removing the cellphone from the picture lets us really focus on each other, lets us focus on our natural environment and really absorb the beauty and all the treasures that are out here for us," Freeman said.
Click here for more information on Camptown.