2026 was another amazing summer at VBYC.
We owe most of it to the amazing staff and counselors who worked and volunteered here together. And of course it would not have been the same without the campers we do it all for! As summers go, we had some ups and downs – we did not break any records with attendance this summer (first time in four years) but we learned a lot.
We had our first major impact from the wildfires in Canada and had to manage a great deal of our program inside for a few days. Not easy to do during a full session in the middle of July, but we did it! Staff and counselors gave their all to make sure that campers still had fun.
2026 also brought us 5 new international friends from Argentina, Bolivia, China and Mexico. Two of our staff from Australia were here for their third consecutive summer! We appreciate their willingness to take a chance on us to come here the first time (and keep coming back) and hope to see them again next summer.
Our campers/staff represented 13 states and 7 countries this summer – in addition to the staff mentioned above we have a camper from France. Of the over 700 campers who attended one or more sessions this summer, 449 of them were from Michigan and 196 from the Chicago area. Other states include Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia
Families are finding us in the following ways:
- 210 from a friend/word of mouth
- 157 from camp alumni
- 101 other (many of these were also former campers/alumni)
- 95 other campers
- 60 google search
- 32 from our brochure/website/online ads
- 12 Facebook
- A few random specific places like the ACA Website, Best Camps Directory, Kazoo Kids, etc.
Our first Youth Retreat and Family Camp sessions, added to the schedule mid summer, were small but fun. It was nice to reconnect with some alumni we haven’t seen in a while and get to know some camper parents a little better. We are looking forward to hosting both of these new sessions again next year.
Thank you to our camp families for another great summer at VBYC!
Dottie Myers-Hill, Director