Monthly Archives: June 2015

Hello from the CEO’s office! You may notice some changes at camp this summer so I wanted to take a moment to reflect on those changes. In an effort to role model a healthier lifestyle for our campers, YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Inc. has signed up to be a part of the Y of the USA’s Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) initiative. The HEPA initiative provides a series of guidelines for how to help improve our participants’ overall health. […]

What is it that makes a camp have the great influence that it does? It is not the facilities or the activities, while great those things may be at YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Inc. It is the staff that help make camp a life changing experience and every year, staff members come to our camps excited and ready for the summer! While many of the counselors are from New Jersey, we have staff from as far as Hawaii and even international staff. For some, this is their first camping experience but many staff members went to camp when they were younger. Each year there are always staff that return from [...]

For quite a few years, YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Inc. has been hiring international staff to work in all three of its summer camps. For some, it is their first time in America and even their first time at a camp while others are returning for another fun filled summer. Even Matolly’s camp director, Gab Ostroski, started out as an international staff member back in 2000 when she arrived from Australia! This summer, we will have a diverse international staff from a variety of countries and cultures including but not limited to Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and the United Kingdom!  I [...]

Summer camp can be a place of learning and growth because there are many skills a child can learn during their time as a camper. One can learn how to swim, how to boat, and how to cook. You learn about nature, different games at land sports, and how to build a fire or a shelter. These activities can teach basic skills, but they can also teach deeper life skills that can stay with a camper the rest of their life! Here a camp, a camper can learn the deeper life skills of: […]