Big Lake Youth Camp was declared the recipient of an award from the American Camp Association earlier this year thanks to their hospitality for hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. “The Cedar Award for Program Excellence is given to camps that are making an impact in their community and dealing with a felt need,” shared Les Zollbrecht, Big Lake director. “We normally serve between 700 and 1000 hikers each summer providing laundry, postal services, meals, electricity for charging devices, and offsite camping spaces. We often get comments that Big Lake was the highlight of the trail for people – the most welcoming space they encountered. So we were pretty excited to be recognized for that.”

The ACA award wasn’t the only good news Big Lake received late this year. The camp also received a $3500 STEAM grant to help support their robotics camp activities, as well as a generous expansion to their newly updated backup generator system. “This is a game changer for sure,” said Les. “We will now have backup power not just for the lodge and kitchen, but for headquarters and the rest of camp as well. That’s something we’ve never had.”

As Big Lake leadership looks toward the coming year, Les says that one of the biggest needs is financial aid assistance for campers. “We were able to grant over $80,000 worth of aid for campers this year and it’s so wonderful to see the generosity people have had in that. As we look forward, a big way to make a difference is to support those campership funds.”

Learn more about how you can help make the camp experience a reality for kids this coming summer at biglake.org/donate.