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There's an 85-year Harvard research project, the longest study of human happiness ever conducted, that landed on a beautifully simple conclusion: the greatest predictor of a long, healthy, and happy life isn't wealth or career success. It's the quality of your relationships and your community connections. Happiness over the course of a life isn't about your bank account or your résumé. It's about your people. I think about this finding a lot when I watch what unfolds at camp each summer. Camp, at its core, is a place where a community gets built from scratch each week. It's a place where kids are asked to share space, solve problems, work through disagreements, celebrate each other, and show up for the people around them. No shortcuts. No screens to hide behind. Just the real, sometimes messy, always meaningful work of belonging together. That same Harvard study describes the severity that chronic loneliness has to our physical health. Camp is one of the most powerful responses to that malady I know of. And it isn't just for campers! I also want to celebrate what this place has been for older youth and adults who come back to volunteer, stay connected, and support this wonderful community. When a camper learns to cheer for a cabin mate, sit with someone who is missing home, work through a conflict at the lunch table, or find their place in a group that didn't exist last week, they are not just having a good summer. They are building the exact relational muscles that science tells us will protect their health and happiness for decades to come. The research on the world's longest-lived communities points to the same thing. The people who thrive longest aren't just healthy eaters or good sleepers. They are deeply woven into the fabric of their communities. They volunteer. They show up. They feel needed. That is what I want for every kid who comes through our gate. A week at camp makes for a fun summer and a summer where campers and staff get to practice the art of community. Where they leave a little better at being a friend, a neighbour, and a teammate. Where the toolbox they carry home includes something rarer and more valuable than any single skill: The knowledge of how to belong and the confidence to help others belong too. Looking forward to an amazing summer at camp,
Carter Mahoney / Executive Director
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