Enabling kids to be curious about nature at camp
Summers spent on the lake or road tripping throughout the U.S. is how Manolis parents, Deane and Nancy, wanted to share their love for the outdoors with their children. Enabling others to share in your cherished experiences, is in essence what Planned Giving is at the Y.
Long-time Twin Cities residents, Deane and Nancy enjoyed lake life at their cabin on Lake Wapogasset and explored the region with their three children. From their cabin’s front porch, they often overheard a camp bell, cheering kids playing games, and saw campfires lit up at night. This nearby land they explored, and the excitement heard, were from YMCA Camp Icaghowan. The Y’s camp world wasn’t new to this family, as all have attended as campers, served as counselors, or volunteered over the years. Deane also served on the Camp Icaghowan board for a period, as he was dedicated to sharing the outdoors.
After Deane and Nancy’s passing, the Manolis children wanted to seed their parent’s love for nature and adventure by creating a named endowment fund for environmental education. What better organization to deliver this, than their lake cabin neighbor, Camp Icaghowan.
The Manolis children gifted $110,000 of their parents’ estate to prioritize nature programming for future Icaghowan Island campers. With this gift, camp has boosted their environmental program to get kids curious about nature and the world around them. In an age where young people are constantly immersed in technology, this is no small feat. Still, Camp Icaghowan’s Executive Director, Georgia Ellingson (Wagner), and Nature Director, Gareth Clark, are committed to getting kids outside.
This is not a classroom, so children engage in activities like creating journals out of recycled materials to draw plants and critters found at camp. Or building ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) terrariums with the biodiversity found on the Island. Georgia and Gareth are enthusiastic about the work they do to create a generation of young people who are stewards of the earth, with a goal to preserve it. These campers are learning empathy and how to care about everyone and everything, including the earth’s smallest creatures thanks to Deane and Nancy Manolis.