Campership Program

The Guardsmen Campership Program

Geographic Scope: San Francisco Bay Area

Focus Areas: Outdoor and experiential education for underserved youth

Program Details

• Purpose: Provides campership funding to enable underserved youth to attend summer camps
• Duration: Ongoing support for over 60+ years to partner organizations
• Funding Impact: Has supported expansion of outdoor education programs by at least 30% annually

Partner Organizations

The program funds camperships through partnerships with organizations including:
• Aim High
• Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation
• Big City Mountaineers
• The Bishop's Ranch Camp
• Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco (Camp Mendocino)
• Camp Phoenix
• Catholic Charities CYO (established "Guardsmen Village" at camp and host annual "Guardsmen Thank You Day")
• Girl Scouts of Northern California
• Girls Leading Girls
• GirlVentures
• Golden Gate Boys Choir and Bellringers
• Golden Gate Area Council, Scouting America
• LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Salvation Army
• SOAR for Youth
• St. Dorothy's Rest
• The Okizu Foundation
• Today's Youth Matter
• YMCA of San Francisco
• YMCA of the East Bay

Program Impact

• Ensures diversity among campers through financial support
• Enables participation from low-income families
• Critical component in expansion of youth outdoor and experiential education programs