Why Don't You Kids Go Outside?

That was the question many my age heard from our parents on a regular basis when we were kids…though it wasn’t really a question. Today, kids are often depicted as sedentary, smartphone and Playstation obsessed couch potatoes, and sometimes that’s true. Fortunately, there are still plenty of kids who very much want to go outside, and the state of Kentucky has a pretty cool program to help them do it.

The Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife operates three summer camps, known as “conservation camps,” for kids from 4th to 6th grade. At Camp John Currie, Camp Earl Wallace, or Camp Robert C. Webb, Kentucky kids can spend a week participating in nature studies, archery, boating, outdoor survival, firearm safety, fishing, and swimming.

The best part is that even if you don’t have kids (like me) or don’t live in Kentucky, you can still help a kid get off the couch and into a Kentucky conservation camp. A week at camp costs $225, and some families just don’t have the money to send their child. But by going to this page , you can sponsor a camper by contributing tuition assistance to a specific child or by donating to the general scholarship fund through the Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

Read through the list of kids and their stories and see if you don’t find a few that tug at your heartstrings. A lot of these children are in rural counties and are depending on the generosity of another to help them get to camp. And for what it is worth, I’m not asking you to do anything I wouldn’t do. I made my donation today, and now this young girl who wants to “learn how to survive in the wilderness” and “learn gun safety” is going to get her wish.

That there are so many kids who want to do this is great, and it would be a shame if they missed the opportunity for want of a hundred bucks or so. If it gets a kid outside, I think it’s money well spent.