{"id":37720,"date":"2025-07-08T16:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/?p=37720"},"modified":"2025-07-08T17:27:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T22:27:56","slug":"supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting our Texas summer camp community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our hearts are broken for the communities that suffered devastating losses during the Texas flash floods on July 4, especially Camp Mystic, Heart O\u2019 the Hills, and other camps in the region. This tragedy hits hard for those of us who dedicate our lives to creating safe, joyful camp experiences for young people. We know our AYF community may feel worry and grief amid these news reports.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Please know the trust our families place in Miniwanca and Merrowvista is sacred.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right now, campers are thriving as they climb the dunes, hike to the Ledge, splash in Lake Michigan and Dan Hole Pond, and form deep friendships, all under the watchful care of a highly trained, deeply committed team. If you\u2019d like to learn more about the AYF\u2019s emergency preparedness plans, <a href=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/programs\/emergency-preparedness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">you can visit our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For those interested in supporting Texas communities impacted by the flooding, the American Camp Association has compiled the following list of resources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/aca.informz.net\/z\/cjUucD9taT00NDczOTI0JnA9MSZ1PTQzNjk1Mjk1MiZsaT01MjA3OTYyOA\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kerr County Flood Relief Fund<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/aca.informz.net\/z\/cjUucD9taT00NDczOTI0JnA9MSZ1PTQzNjk1Mjk1MiZsaT01MjA3OTYzMA\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Texas Community Recovery<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/aca.informz.net\/z\/cjUucD9taT00NDczOTI0JnA9MSZ1PTQzNjk1Mjk1MiZsaT01MjA3OTYzMQ\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ACA Disaster Assistance Scholarship Fund<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019re feeling the weight of this moment, know you\u2019re not alone. \u00a0I invite you to reach out, call a camp friend, share a memory, or light a fire\u2014literal or metaphorical. Remember, the strength of our camp lies in the connections we\u2019ve built within these special places and communities. Let those sparks bring you through the dark moments as we grieve this immense loss together.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-37725 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3b27837d-5de4-fa53-496e-0fc537e5216d-300x106.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"106\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3b27837d-5de4-fa53-496e-0fc537e5216d-300x106.png 300w, https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3b27837d-5de4-fa53-496e-0fc537e5216d-100x35.png 100w, https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3b27837d-5de4-fa53-496e-0fc537e5216d.png 666w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/106;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our hearts are broken for the communities that suffered devastating losses during the Texas flash floods on July 4, especially Camp Mystic, Heart O\u2019 the Hills, and other camps in the region. This tragedy hits hard for those of us who dedicate our lives to creating safe, joyful camp experiences for young people. We know our AYF community may feel &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":37721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,62,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-updates","category-merrowvista","category-miniwanca"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Supporting our Texas summer camp community - American Youth Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supporting our Texas summer camp community - American Youth Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our hearts are broken for the communities that suffered devastating losses during the Texas flash floods on July 4, especially Camp Mystic, Heart O\u2019 the Hills, and other camps in the region. This tragedy hits hard for those of us who dedicate our lives to creating safe, joyful camp experiences for young people. We know our AYF community may feel ... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Youth Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/americanyouthfoundation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-08T21:21:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-08T22:27:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"936\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Catherine Klene\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Catherine Klene\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Catherine Klene\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ed76aecb494e23494e2fb12eebc3126e\"},\"headline\":\"Supporting our Texas summer camp community\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-08T21:21:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-08T22:27:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\"},\"wordCount\":247,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Updates\",\"Merrowvista\",\"Miniwanca\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\",\"name\":\"Supporting our Texas summer camp community - American Youth Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-08T21:21:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-08T22:27:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png\",\"width\":936,\"height\":702},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supporting our Texas summer camp community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/\",\"name\":\"American Youth Foundation\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Youth Foundation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/AYF-Transparent-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/AYF-Transparent-Logo.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":744,\"caption\":\"American Youth Foundation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/americanyouthfoundation\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ed76aecb494e23494e2fb12eebc3126e\",\"name\":\"Catherine Klene\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/740d758e572a396bc11b9bbc9a7af8f4c55ff4d9891f9b82449ac49163e2b05b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/740d758e572a396bc11b9bbc9a7af8f4c55ff4d9891f9b82449ac49163e2b05b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Catherine Klene\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ayf.com\/author\/catherine\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supporting our Texas summer camp community - American Youth Foundation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supporting our Texas summer camp community - American Youth Foundation","og_description":"Our hearts are broken for the communities that suffered devastating losses during the Texas flash floods on July 4, especially Camp Mystic, Heart O\u2019 the Hills, and other camps in the region. This tragedy hits hard for those of us who dedicate our lives to creating safe, joyful camp experiences for young people. We know our AYF community may feel ... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/","og_site_name":"American Youth Foundation","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/americanyouthfoundation\/","article_published_time":"2025-07-08T21:21:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-08T22:27:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":936,"height":702,"url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Catherine Klene","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Catherine Klene","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/"},"author":{"name":"Catherine Klene","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ed76aecb494e23494e2fb12eebc3126e"},"headline":"Supporting our Texas summer camp community","datePublished":"2025-07-08T21:21:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-08T22:27:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/"},"wordCount":247,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png","articleSection":["General Updates","Merrowvista","Miniwanca"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/","url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/","name":"Supporting our Texas summer camp community - American Youth Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png","datePublished":"2025-07-08T21:21:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-08T22:27:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image.png","width":936,"height":702},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/supporting-our-texas-summer-camp-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supporting our Texas summer camp community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/","name":"American Youth Foundation","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#organization","name":"American Youth Foundation","url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/AYF-Transparent-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/AYF-Transparent-Logo.png","width":800,"height":744,"caption":"American Youth Foundation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/americanyouthfoundation\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ed76aecb494e23494e2fb12eebc3126e","name":"Catherine Klene","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/740d758e572a396bc11b9bbc9a7af8f4c55ff4d9891f9b82449ac49163e2b05b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/740d758e572a396bc11b9bbc9a7af8f4c55ff4d9891f9b82449ac49163e2b05b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Catherine Klene"},"url":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/author\/catherine\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}