Help youth create communities of respect

On May 3, 2011, Silicon Valley FACES hosted its first ever fundraising luncheon entitled "Building a Community Free of Bias and Bigotry Together" at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

The over 300 people in attendance watched the premiere of a video showing the impact that Camp Everytown has made on the hundreds of youth who have participated over the 15 years of the program's existence.

The video highlights several Camp Everytown alumni who attribute their experience at Camp to helping transform their lives:

"Camp Everytown made a big difference in my world...Camp Everytown really allowed me to reflect on who I was and what I can do to take forward my personal experience and turn it into something positive, rather than dwelling on it. I remember coming back from Camp Everytown feeling completely empowered and really started caring about school...for the first time in my life...and wanting to graduate..it allowed me to really see what our world can be without all the isms and the things that divide us..."  - Andre, Camp Everytown Alum

"I used to think a lot about what other people thought about me. How they saw me was how I kinda saw myself...and so hearing that we actually should start loving ourselves more and not pay attention to what other people have to say to us...I took that to heart. And to this day, I don't listen to things that are negative about me; I just shut them out because it's not important, cuz what other people think of me doesn't mean it IS me." - Nandi, Camp Everytown Alum

Links:

• 2011 Video of Silicon Valley FACES' Camp Everytown

It's a common sight to see every year, and this year is no exception. High school students talking excitedly as they get off the bus returning from their school's annual visit to Silicon Valley FACES' Camp Everytown. The only difference is that many of the students getting off the bus are talking to people who were complete strangers before the four day, three night trip to Camp Harmon in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

At Camp Everytown, students, school faculty and community members participate in activities based on the ideas of promoting acceptance of gender, race, ethnicity, religious belief and sexual orientation. Many of the students who attend Camp Everytown are nominated by their teachers because of their leadership potential (both traditional and non-traditional), while others sign up after hearing friends' stories of Camp Everytown's dramatic, personal effect.

"I've had many of my students say that it is the most impacting experience they've had," says an assistant principal from one of the high schools that has been attending Camp Everytown for the last 4 years. "While it's a pain to recruit the students and find staff that can do it and set the day, even with all those pieces in the process, it's still worth it."

The trust between students created by the Camp Everytown atmosphere allows people to candidly share stories that they had never mentioned before to anyone. Many students connect on an emotional level as their understanding about topics such as gender disrespect and bullying change from just textbook statistics to personal, human stories.

"I learned how not to judge people on the surface and what they look like because a lot of the time, you still have a lot of things in common," says a 12th grade student who recently attended camp. "The Camp Everytown experience was pretty eye-opening for me. I was really blind when it comes to seeing from someone else's perspective because I saw things MY way, and going for the very first time opened my eyes."

We extend a heartfelt "THANK YOU!" to our recent donors for helping us continue to offer the Camp Everytown experience to high school students in Santa Clara County!