Camperships

"It is the mission of the Great Lakes Council to ensure camping opportunities for all Scouts regardless of their financial background. "

 

It is the belief of the Great Lakes Council that every Scout should have the opportunity to attend summer camp, regardless of personal and family financial resources.  In support of that belief, the Great Lakes Council has set up a camping scholarship program to assist Scouts and their families with financial need.  Camperships are available to any registered Scout attending a Great Lakes Council Camp, incuding: 

 

One of the key goals of the Scouting program is to teach self-reliance. The leadership section of the Boy Scout Handbook on page 48 asks the question, ‘Where do you want to be tomorrow?  Next week?  Ten years from now?’ Camperships provide of a portion of camping fee, but not the entire fee. The Scout is expected to help secure the difference and learn the valuable lesson ‘Paying your own way’.

Eligibility

Any Scout attending a GLC summer camp with financial need.  These awards are for Scouts who could not otherwise afford to attend a summer camp program.  Traditionally these awards have been for Boy and Venture Scouts attending week-long camps (since those are the more expensive programs) but in exceptional circumstances camperships have been awarded to Cub Scouts in dire financial situations.

Application Process

Each unit should select one individual to be in charge of all of the unit’s campership applications: the unit’s campership representative.  This person collects the required information from the scouts and their parents/guardians and serves as a gatekeeper to ensure that only those Scouts with true financial need apply.  Units should not submit all of their Scouts’ names to ‘see what they can get’, but should limit applications to those truly in financial need.

What information will the Unit Representative need in order to fill out an application? 

1. The Scout’s basic demographic information;

2. The family’s household income from the family’s 2010 or 2011 tax return;

3. An understanding of what money is available for camping fees from the Scout, family, Unit and Chartering Institution;

4. An explanation of the need for the campership money;

5. A $25.00 non-refundable deposit;*

Campership applications are to be submitted on this page - click on the 'Apply Here' button.  Each campership needs to be accompanied by a $25 application fee, payable online with a credit card, or by selecting the "mail-offline" option to mail or walk-in payment.*

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis - the sooner that the unit representative submits an application, the sooner the award notification.

All applications submitted by April 13, 2012 will be given full consideration.  While applications will still be accepted after April 13th and we will do our best to assist those Scouts, we cannot guarantee funding will remain.

Awarding Camperships

The amount awarded for a Scout(s) is highly dependent on the Scout’s and family’s individual situation.  Full camperships are rarely if ever awarded.  It is expected that a Scout, family, unit and charter organization should be able to help get a Scout to camp.  Scouts who earn and pay for even a small portion of their camp fee are likely to get more out of their experience than those who do not.

There is a GLC Campership Committee that reviews all applications and awards camperships.  Each application is reviewed by at least two campership committee members.  The committee is made up of scouters and professionals from the greater detroit area.  Our last committee included at least one: doctor, lawyer, teacher, researcher, engineer, auto worker and skilled tradesman.  We are always looking for more volunteers in this worthwhile endeavor.  If you would like to participate or just know more about the process, simply email .

Camperships are not transferable. Camperships are awarded on an individualized basis based on that scout’s specific financial needs for the year and so they cannot be transferred to other scouts or other years.  If, however, the Scout opts to attend a different GLC camp or a different week of camp during the same summer, the campership would go with them.

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*The $25 application fee is not refundable, but it is applied towards the Scout’s camp fees for the summer.  The deposit can be paid online through Doubleknot on the application page or in person at the Dauch Scout Center.