In the summer of 2021 50 girls from Girls' Inc. in Hagerstown were invited to attend day camp for a week at Shepherd's Spring. The girls ranged in ages from 5 to 16 and seemed to enjoy themselves completely. We are hoping to see them return again this year! Below is a note that one of the staff from Girls' Inc. sent to us following last year's camp experience.
Shepherd's Spring has been an exceptional experience for our girls at Girls Inc. Shepherd's Spring provides our girls with the opportunity to enjoy and engage in an environment that not many of them are used to. This past year, we were offered the fortunate opportunity to spend an entire week exploring and enjoying all Shepherd's Spring has to offer. For many, this was their first opportunity to spend any significant time outside trying new activities.
Our girls enjoyed visiting the Global Village and learning about different parts of the world and cultures. They got to go swimming, play games along with learning new skills. Some of the most memorable experiences for the girls were caving and canoeing. None of our girls had ever gone caving nor had the opportunity to hike through the woods. That experience not only allowed them to gain confidence in themselves and conquer their fears of hiking through the wilderness, but also proved to be a memory they will never forget.
Our older girls were fortunate enough to experience canoeing and continued to work on
their team building skills. While they were in a large group together, they were in pairs within the canoes. This enabled the girls to show mental and physical strength while building their communication and team working skills.
Everyday there were multiple stories of excitement when we returned to Girls Inc. where every girl raced to share all the fun they had during their day with their families! One of the most memorable stories was from a group of kindergarteners. On the way into Shepherd's Spring, they saw several deer in the field. For many of them, this was their first time ever seeing one in person. They were in awe and amazed that there were deer in Hagerstown! When they left for the day, several of them went running out to their parents, squealing with excitement that they got to see a deer! It truly was a highlight of their camp experience. Shepherd's Spring continues to be one our girl's favorite places to visit and we are grateful for the partnership with them. We are looking forward to visiting again this summer and we know our girls will come home with more enjoyable memories from their time there!
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