PINE TREE CAMP
2023 DOWNHILL 24 OUTDOOR FUND GRANTEE
City: Rome
County: Androscoggin County
Grant funds distributed: $10,000
Children Impacted: 290
The WinterKids Downhill 24 Outdoor Fund grant went directly to supporting Pine Tree Camp’s open door policy, allowing Maine children with disabilities the opportunity to have barrier-free outdoor access through traditional summer camp programming and family programming in all four seasons – regardless of their ability to pay tuition.
Programming that benefits from camp’s open door policy fund includes four week-long overnight summer camp sessions for children with disabilities, six week-long day camp sessions for children with disabilities, a week-long overnight summer camp session for Deaf and hard-of-hearing youth, a three-day overnight session for non-verbal campers who use technology as a form of communication assistance and family weekends and Adventure Day Pass programming happening in all four seasons.
For 79 years, Pine Tree Camp has upheld this open door promise, allowing all who can benefit to attend regardless of their ability to pay tuition. Pine Tree Camp focuses on providing access to all of the outdoor activities for which Maine is famous, including sledding and tubing, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, ice fishing, kayaking, boating, hiking on fully accessible nature trails, biking, sports activities, archery, fishing, ropes course activities, and even tenting under the open stars.
Pine Tree Camp has created an environment in which all campers belong. When they drive down the camp road, they enter a world in which they are just one of the gang. This creates an environment in which they develop social connections that last beyond their time on North Pond. Our campers are a diverse population. They range in age from five and older. They come from all corners of Maine. Though there are significant differences from camper to camper, we do find that they share similarities. Pine Tree campers are isolated and face significant barriers to all aspects of life – access to nature and the outdoors, recreation, physical fitness and social connectedness.