Scholarships Available to Help Parents Pay for Day Camps at Maine Audubon
Openings still available for children from age 3 to 11 at Gilsland Farm, including week of July 2-6
(Falmouth, Maine) -- As a participant in the “No Child Left Inside” movement to get kids outdoors and away from video games and other sedentary activities, Maine Audubon offers summer day camps for kids from age 6 to 11 at its Gilsland Farm Audubon Sanctuary in Falmouth.
But in tough economic times, parents often find it hard to afford the fees that range from $140 to $250 per child for these week-long day camps. Even with discounts of up to $50 per child for Maine Audubon members, it can still be a stretch for families to allow their kids to participate in programs that teach them about the outdoors or to identify different plant and animal species, build forts, scoop ponds for frogs, or any number of other activities that make being a kid in Maine during summer such a joy.
To help alleviate the financial burden, Maine Audubon offers scholarships that can significantly reduce those day camp program fees, sometimes by as much as 75 percent. Cathy Stivers, who serves as the Gilsland Farm’s Director of Education, wants parents to not only know about these funds set aside to help defray the costs of summer day camps, but also how easy they are to obtain.
“We don’t ask for tax returns, and parents don’t need to fill out a bunch of forms,” says Stivers, who says a simple one page form can be downloaded from the Maine Audubon website or picked up in person at Gilsland Farm.
“The form can be filled out in a few minutes and then faxed or mailed to us, dropped off in person or emailed as a scanned document,” says Stivers, who added that the income declarations are based on the honor system. Parents or guardians indicate their level of need in terms of financial assistance and Stivers says Maine Audubon can usually provide the amount requested or very close to it.
Summer day camp programs at Maine Audubon are filling rapidly, says Stivers, although many sessions do still have openings, most notably during the week of July 2-6 when two programs are offered, including a five-day program for kids of ages 9 to 11 and a four-day program for kids 6 to 11.
Campers in small groups spend the day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with environmental educators who are typically teachers, naturalists, or college students studying biology, forestry and environmental studies. All educators are certified in CPR and first aid.
There are also four-day programs for pre-schoolers, including one on Wednesdays and Fridays between June 27 and July 6, with available space.
To register, request a scholarship application or to ask questions about the programs, parents or guardians should call Maine Audubon during regular business hours at (207) 781-2330 and ask for Barbara Nickerson (ext. 273) or Cathy Stivers (ext. 223). They can also be reached by email at bnickerson@maineaudubon.org or
cstivers@maineaudubon.org, respectively. Financial aid applications can be downloaded at MaineAudubon.org from the web site’s “Camps and Pre-School Programs” page under the “Events & Programs” section.
Openings still available for children from age 3 to 11 at Gilsland Farm, including week of July 2-6
(Falmouth, Maine) -- As a participant in the “No Child Left Inside” movement to get kids outdoors and away from video games and other sedentary activities, Maine Audubon offers summer day camps for kids from age 6 to 11 at its Gilsland Farm Audubon Sanctuary in Falmouth.
But in tough economic times, parents often find it hard to afford the fees that range from $140 to $250 per child for these week-long day camps. Even with discounts of up to $50 per child for Maine Audubon members, it can still be a stretch for families to allow their kids to participate in programs that teach them about the outdoors or to identify different plant and animal species, build forts, scoop ponds for frogs, or any number of other activities that make being a kid in Maine during summer such a joy.
To help alleviate the financial burden, Maine Audubon offers scholarships that can significantly reduce those day camp program fees, sometimes by as much as 75 percent. Cathy Stivers, who serves as the Gilsland Farm’s Director of Education, wants parents to not only know about these funds set aside to help defray the costs of summer day camps, but also how easy they are to obtain.
“We don’t ask for tax returns, and parents don’t need to fill out a bunch of forms,” says Stivers, who says a simple one page form can be downloaded from the Maine Audubon website or picked up in person at Gilsland Farm.
“The form can be filled out in a few minutes and then faxed or mailed to us, dropped off in person or emailed as a scanned document,” says Stivers, who added that the income declarations are based on the honor system. Parents or guardians indicate their level of need in terms of financial assistance and Stivers says Maine Audubon can usually provide the amount requested or very close to it.
Summer day camp programs at Maine Audubon are filling rapidly, says Stivers, although many sessions do still have openings, most notably during the week of July 2-6 when two programs are offered, including a five-day program for kids of ages 9 to 11 and a four-day program for kids 6 to 11.
Campers in small groups spend the day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with environmental educators who are typically teachers, naturalists, or college students studying biology, forestry and environmental studies. All educators are certified in CPR and first aid.
There are also four-day programs for pre-schoolers, including one on Wednesdays and Fridays between June 27 and July 6, with available space.
To register, request a scholarship application or to ask questions about the programs, parents or guardians should call Maine Audubon during regular business hours at (207) 781-2330 and ask for Barbara Nickerson (ext. 273) or Cathy Stivers (ext. 223). They can also be reached by email at bnickerson@maineaudubon.org or
cstivers@maineaudubon.org, respectively. Financial aid applications can be downloaded at MaineAudubon.org from the web site’s “Camps and Pre-School Programs” page under the “Events & Programs” section.
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