Blog  September 25, 2012

Camper bursaries help kids from all over Toronto experience the nature in their backyards

Green City Adventure Campers search for fish and turtles in the ponds of the
Weston Family Quarry Garden (Photo: Tom Ferguson)

The air is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter, and summer’s fading away into memory. Before we fully settle back into the fall routine, we took some time to catch up with Deena DelZotto, whose daughter Nadja participated in Evergreen’s Green City Adventure Camp this summer.

There are a lot of day camps in Toronto, what made you choose Green City Adventure Camps?
I was looking for a camp where my daughter would be outside most of the time. Nadja loves all living creatures big and small and I wanted her to be closer to the environment in which they live.

What was the best thing Nadja came home saying after a day at camp?
Nadja doesn't tell me much but she always came home from Brick Works singing camp songs. I loved hearing them and watching her "perform" the songs with gestures.

If she could pick just one, what was Nadja’s favourite thing about camp?
Besides the songs, Nadja LOVES bat tree! (Editor’s note: Bat tree is just that—a tree—in the Weston Family Quarry Garden that was named by the campers and is a favourite spot to play.)

Is that your favourite thing about camp too?
I love how Nadja notices hawks in the sky, blue herons hidden in the grasses and turtles in the ponds. Wildlife is abundant at Evergreen Brick Works!

When you signed Nadja up for camp, you made a donation for Camp for a Day for a child who wouldn’t have a chance to attend. Why?
Every child in Toronto has the right to connect with nature. I like to think of the donation as a gift for a child to spend the whole day experiencing nature in their very own city—just like Nadja.

Green City Camp bursaries are available for Toronto kids who deserve a camp nature experience, but whose family’s financial status may be limiting, and are supported by the generous donations of community members like Deena.

If you would like to learn more about the Camp bursary program, or are interested in giving a kid from an underserved Toronto neighbourhood a camp nature experience, contact Jaime at 416-596-1495 x319 or jklein@evergreen.ca.