Dear Friends:

What is your favorite childhood summer memory? Floating down a river? Sleeping under the stars? Climbing a mountain? Catching your first fish?

Every child dreams of summers spent outdoors, swimming, hiking, climbing trees and playing with friends. Whether they live in uburban Los Angeles or on a military base in Germany, in the summertime, kids want to be kids.

For many children in America’s inner cities, our Boys & Girls Clubs are making summer dreams come to life. Club members from all over the country, most of whom could never afford to go to camp, are treated to experiences that stay with them for a lifetime.

As a Club kid growing up in the Midwest, I have a crystal clear memory of summers filled with the sounds, smells and tastes of camp. I remember how the excitement built from the time we first loaded onto buses outside our inner-city Boys Club, and continued to build as the city was replaced by dirt roads, fields, and groves of trees that we called the forest. Camp counselors were larger than life and the things I learned at camp have lasted a lifetime.

In this edition of The Positive Place, we highlight a few of the thousands of local Clubs that are providing meaningful summer camp experiences for their Club members. I trust you will enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it, and that it will bring to mind positive memories from your own childhood.

Your support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America and our local Clubs helps make summer dreams come true for thousands of children. Thank you for making a difference.