The final group of 200-plus campers in both day and overnight camps has arrived at College Settlement Camp, in the midst of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Horsham campgrounds serving generations of children and families from Philadelphia.
On Monday, Aug. 1, approximately 101 children arrived for the final two-week session of College Settlement’s Day Camp, while approximately 91 arrived for the final two-week session of the Overnight Camp.
All told, well over 500 children from North Philadelphia and West Philadelphia attended the Day Camp sessions that began on June 20 and conclude Friday, Aug. 12. The Overnight Camps began that same day, and end next Friday, and were attended by over 400 children from those same neighborhoods.
“Over the past 100 years, we’ve created a culture at College Settlement Camp where young kids from the inner city neighborhoods of Philadelphia are happy and safe,” said Terry Dougherty, executive director of College Settlement. “With all the challenges in Philly socially and economically in the neighborhoods, coupled with the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we do everything we can to make the children realize that this is their camp, and everyone is welcome.
“A big thing we do is break down stereotypes,” Dougherty added. “And you do that being in a swimming pool together, tipping a canoe together and spending the night around the campfire together. It’s been done here for a long time. College Settlement really tries to make kids feel welcome. No matter who, no matter what background they’re from. We want to make them feel like they belong...”
