Mentorship

At its roots, Troy Camp is a mentorship program. Through the camp experience and all the fun it entails, Troy Camp attempts to create bonds between campers and counselors. Troy Camp is a large proponent of the importance of mentorship, and witnesses its lifelong benefits daily. From its beginning, Troy Camp has seen the importance of mentorship and continues to make it a major part of its programming. Troy Camp was started in 1948 by the Beta Sigma chapter of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. Motivated by the, obvious need of the communities surrounding USC and partially as an answer to rival UCLAs own community outreach philanthropy, Unicamp, Troy Camp was born with the goal of directly changing childrens lives. In its first year, Kappa Alpha took more than 70 elementary school students from the East Side Boys Club to summer camp for a week devoted to bonding, outdoor exploration and fun. The project expanded rapidly, and opened its volunteer membership to women and non-Greeks. In 1965, a drastic change to the organization took place. After cabin counselors Harry Grant and Bobby Godfrey decided they wanted more time with the children they interacted with during the summer, Troy Camp began to recruit campers exclusively from the schools surrounding the University Park campus so that counselors could see their campers regularly during the school year. In 1967, the organization formally incorporated a yearlong aspect, transforming Troy Camp from a summer camp to a lifelong mentorship program. Neighborhood students were now able to learn beyond their classrooms and experience more of Los Angeles with trips to the beach, museums and USC football games with their counselors, all while promoting the camp spirit and values. In the spring of 1970, Troy Camp extended its focus beyond elementary schools by adding a class of 16 junior counselors into the program. These former campers, now in high school, serve as role models who come from the same schools as the campers. They too receive mentorship from the Troy Camp counselors, who help them with everything from getting ready for prom to applying for college. Around the same time, Troy Camp partnered with USC Athletics to develop an annual fundraiser, Pass the Can, held during the Trojans homecoming football game. During halftime of the homecoming game, hundreds of milk jugs are passed around the stands of

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the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum by Troy Camp counselors. Spectators respond by filling the jugs with money to help support Troy Camp programs. In spring 2006, Troy Camp again expanded with a new program to help camper alumni stay connected and form deeper relationships with counselors during their middle school years. Leaders in Training, or LIT, aims to help middle school campers prepare to become leaders in high school and advance to higher education. In this way, Troy Camp can successfully track campers from third grade to college. In fall 2012, Troy Camp mentored its first camper through all levels of the program. Schessa Buckbeak Garbutt moved from camper, to LITer, to Junior Counselor, was accepted to USC and then became a college volunteer for Troy Camp. Schessa attended Troy Camp for the first time in the 4th grade and was lucky enough to attend again as a 5th grader. Schessa loved riding horses and making her counselors laugh. When she reached middle school, LIT allowed her to relive the fun and adventure of camp, while also giving her a chance to develop her personal character. But it was during the Junior Counselor program that she began growing as a leader. Now that she is a counselor, she is often asked how Troy Camp has impacted her life. Troy Camp has been a support system and a haven throughout, says Schessa. As a kid, it was something exciting to do on the weekends, but now it's a living definition of what it means to me to be a part of the Trojan Family. Because of its proven successful mentorship program, Troy Camp knows it will continue to impact the community and create leaders ready to change the world.

For more information or to donate visit troycamp.org.