YMCA Buffalo Niagara Launches Summer Day Camp at Camp Eggert

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — School is out, summer is here and a new YMCA summer camp season is underway.

On Monday the 7th, news anchor Jeff Russo visited the YMCA’s Camp Eggert in Orchard Park, where hundreds of children were present for the first day of activities.

D.L. Webster

“It’s traditional summer,” said Brenna Lupo, YMCA vice president of education and child care services. “Camp Eggert has been going on longer than I can remember.”

D.L. Webster

Lupo says she expects about 220 children to participate each week and that campers will have the chance to explore new talents, activities and ideas outside of their normal lives.

“It’s amazing,” Lupo said. “The kids go rock climbing, take swimming lessons, go zip lining and make new friends.”

Many camp activities also have an educational component.

“We focus on character development throughout the day. We integrate it into all of their activities. We have literacy elements, STEM elements, nature, really everything they do at school. school, we address it here, but we don’t tell them they’re doing it,” Lupo said.

7 News met Emma Manning and Emma Craig, two 12-year-old campers, both from Hamburg, who became friends after meeting at YMCA Camp Eggert a few years ago.

D.L. Webster

“They call us Emma One and Emma Two,” Emma Manning said. “We were in the same group one day, I have a big group of friends and we saw her and she was alone and we decided to be friends with her.”

“I was really nervous about coming to camp at first, because I had gone to another camp and I had a lot of friends there,” Emma Craig said. “I made friends really quickly and now it’s really fun with them.”

The Emmas say they both like many things about the Camp Eggert YMCA.

“I love how you can enjoy the fresh air and all the sunlight,” Manning said.

“I just like being outside,” Craig said. “You have all your friends and it’s just super fun to come in the summer.”

D.L. Webster

Perhaps the best part is that campers get a break from their screens. Camp Eggert doesn’t allow phones or tablets during summer camp, but that didn’t seem to bother the campers.

“I think it’s a good idea because if you’re at home and you come to camp, don’t you want to enjoy the fresh air, experiment and learn new things instead of being on the phone all day ?” Manning said.

“At first I didn’t understand why, but now I’m glad they chose this because if we were on the phone it just wouldn’t be as fun as it was without them,” Craig added.

Camp Eggert is one of 12 distinct day camps operated by the YMCA Buffalo Niagara. There are still spots open for campers this summer with prices starting at $249 per week. Financial assistance is available.

If you would like to learn more about summer day camps, you can click here.

“We hope they leave tired. We hope they leave excited to come back the next day, and we really hope they leave as good humans, ready to take on the world,” Lupo said.