Conversations with David Rivas & Sam Braley

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Rivas & Sam Braley

Hi David Rivas & Sam Braley, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
DAVID: Camp: Destination is a K-12 summer program located in Chandler, AZ. Camp: Destination’s first summer was in 2014, and we started with a handful of campers in a small school on the Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley (TBS-EV) campus. As one of the founders of the program it was our goal to build a fun and safe space that was innovative, empowering, rooted in community, and gave youth a place to call home. The majority of those campers we started with went on to be involved as counselors throughout the growth of the Camp: Destination program, and this is one of our proudest accomplishments! We have seen many generations of campers, staff, and leadership as we have grown, and it is amazing to see where we are today as we approach our 11th summer. We are still in the same location, but our program has grown to include 13 staff, a Leaders in Training Program for high school age campers, and a vibrant summer camp experience that has every camper coming back summer after summer!

SAM: David’s description of what our program is, how our program runs, and the backbone which our community is built on could not be more spot-on. We are truly built upon the principle of community, and creating a safe, fun, & meaningful experience where every child is empowered to be themselves and connect with others. We believe strongly in the power of connection & the ability of engagement, which is why our scheduling reflects programming from the moment which campers come through our gates all the way until the moment they leave our campus for pick-up. Through versatile activities, our goal is to build a thriving & robust community for kids entering Kindergarten to those graduating from their Senior Year of High School – filled with memories, smiles, and laughs which all can enjoy.

I am so privileged to have been a former camper, Leader-in-Training (LIT), & counselor in the Camp: Destination Program prior to joining the Leadership Team for Summer 2024. David was my camp counselor, and many of our current staff & LITs were in my former camp groups. There is truly no force in my life, outside of my family, which has been more instrumental in providing me with a safe space to express & understand myself, connect with people of all different backgrounds & stories, and truly experience what it is like to have fun. As a child, camp was always such a force of excitement & anticipation in my life, and even still today, as an adult, that is perhaps the one aspect of my life which has not changed – I look forward to camp every summer, and consider it to be the greatest opportunity of my life to now have the chance to give back & play a role in creating those same experiences for the next generation of Camp: Destination families.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
DAVID: It has not been an easy journey as we reflect on the last decade of Camp: Destination. Some of the biggest struggles we have faced revolve around maintaining our seasonal program as we do not operate during the traditional school year. All of the founding directors of Camp: Destination were teachers, and we took on this new venture as a volunteer run operation. Since then we now have the ability to hire all of our summer staff, many of whom have been involved with Camp: Destination from the beginning. We have been very lucky to have the support and partnership with local organizations such as Temple Beth Sholom and Temple Emanuel of Tempe that have allowed us to continue our 10 week program!

SAM: While I have spent more time on the camper/LIT end of our program, and am entering my 4th Year on the staffing end of our program, one significant struggle which I can recall is holding camp during the pandemic. During Summer 2020, my first year as a LIT, we were not able to have camp on-site, but transitioned our camp program to be a Virtual Camp, which provided program offerings for kids still as young as Kindergarten, and as old as 12th Grade. While this was by no means easy, and entirely uncharted territory for camp, I think this experience really speaks to the strength & resilience of our community – camp was still the shining light in my life over summer, even despite our online programming, and we were still able to form connections, memories, & experiences which we reminisce on at camp to this day.

More than that, I think it speaks to the incredible nature of our community that we were able to bounce back – with almost the entire same staff, LITs, & campers which we had prior to the pandemic (plus, a few which had joined us along the way!) to continue recommitting to the same summer camp experience & building more memories like those which had defined us prior to COVID coming into our lives. To be physically apart from one another for 2+ years, and be able to reunite and build back stronger from an experience which very well could have been the end of our story, I think speaks heavily to the commitment of the Camp: Destination experience & each community member who takes part in it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
DAVID: Camp: Destination approaches summer camp from the belief that the campers experience is the absolute most important piece of what we do. We are known for giving each camper a space where they are known for who they are in a world that may not give them the opportunity to shine as an individual. We offer experiences that build up our campers confidence, ability to connect with their peers, and memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. In order to build the best possible summer experience we offer each camper the ability to choose their activities that align with their interests. This gives each camper the ability to build new friendships with other campers who have similar interests as well as gives them buy-in to what they are doing in their day. None of our programs are cookie cutter or come from a kit- all of our programs are wildly different, and we believe to be some of the best and innovative in our area. Some of these programs include- building lifesize loch ness monster models, 4 way dodgeball competitions, camper created song and dance routines, and mosaics built out of recycled bike chain parts. All of these programs happened to have been offered this last summer, and this is a small sample of what we offer in our day to day routine!

We are most proud of watching our campers come back day after day with a smile that continues to grow. The days turn into years, and eventually these campers are interested in returning as counselors. This last summer saw staff that had all been former campers. It is amazing to watch campers who you mentored returning as the ones to mentor the next generation of campers. We also have made an addition to the leadership team who was one of our first campers 10 years ago (soon to be 11!).

SAM: David hit the nail on the head – our programming is the beacon of our organization & the guiding force behind creating incredible experiences summer-after-summer. Our programming inspires camper agency – for the first half of each camp day, campers choose the programs which they want to participate in, allowing them to connect with like-minded peers & also explore new interests, as no program is a commitment for longer than a week! Often, our campers will talk about new skills, interests, & hobbies which they acquired over the summer. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, our schedule is PACKED! There is never a moment at camp which does not have some sort of scheduled, structured activity taking place, which I think really contributes to the high-enthusiasm & high-energy culture which we seek to build.

I think another big thing which sets us apart from others is that all of our programming is done in-house, at the hands & leadership of our staff. We do not supplement our fun with field trips and/or outside guests, but we attempt to equip our staff with a versatile, dedicated team who is ready to dive headfirst into anything & everything which we offer! We are doing so much during the camp day that kids are not asking to go elsewhere – rather, they want to stay at camp for longer! This ability to do all of our programming in-house, with our incredible team, also helps us to keep prices relatively low compared to other organizations, and make the Camp: Destination experience more accessible to many families across the valley.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
One resource which we’ve recently come into touch with is the American Camping Association, as we are officially going through the accreditation process to be an ACA-Accredited Camp. This allows us to connect with other camps, programs, & leadership teams across the country, who allow us to reflect on our own programming and continue to grow better in what we do at Camp: Destination. We are so excited about this opportunity, and to hopefully be able to grow our program & help other programs learn more about us, as well.

Pricing:

• $248 for a 5-Day Camp Week
• $198 for a 4-Day Camp Week
• $50 for Week-Long Beforecare
• $50 for Week-Long Aftercare
• $15 for Daily Drop-In to Beforecare or Aftercare

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.campdestination.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camp_destination/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campdestination