Thursday, February 17, 2011

2011 Annual Support Campaign

Your support of the YMCA of Honolulu, Camp Erdman's 2011 Strong Communities Annual Support Campaign ensures families that need financial assistance to participate in our wide range of camp programs are provided the opportunity to do so. With the current economic challenges going on in our community today the request from families needing financial assistance to participate has increased significantly.


During February and March, committed YMCA Camp Erdman volunteers and staff will be actively out in the community sharing about the positive impacts that the YMCA Camp Erdman has made in the life of children, teens and families from our special island community.

YMCA Camp Erdman’s summer resident camp program gives children and teens the chance to leave home, make new friends, gain an appreciation for the outdoors, learn from adult role models, strengthen values and allows them to take risks in a safe setting. Our own experience, as well as national research tells us that children and teens that participate in resident camp programs have a greater chance for success as the move forward in life.

Our family camp program provides families the opportunity to reconnect and enjoy each other away from the hustle and bustle of every day distractions. Families always share how much they value this program, and how they love the camp activities, staff and the food! Most importantly they have positive experiences together that help strengthen their family!

Through our Environmental Education, Leadership, Team Building and Conference Groupprograms we serve thousands of children and adults. These programs provide our island schools, churches, organizations, businesses and military opportunities to develop relationships, learn about the environment, enhance leadership skills and allows them to have a great time and in many cases create positive memories they will have for a lifetime.

All of these programs provide great value to our community and most often provides positive life changing impacts. This is especially true for disadvantaged children, teens and families. So if you are able and willing to support this important fundraising effort, please take a few moments and complete your secure online donation at www.camperdman.net.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

School's In Session - At Camp Erdman!

Aloha Blogosphere!

Well it's official, School is back in! Summer camp officially ended on August 13th, 2010 with just under 1000 kids signing up for camp and having a great time this summer. Whether it was the amazing Operation Purple Military Experience Days (one of which had the Mayor of Gotham City, Nestor Carbonell, visit), the exciting Wizard Week or even the challenging Olympics Week, lots of kids came to camp, had a great time, made new friends and learned new skills. It was a fantastic experience.

And all of those kids are now back to school - but they can still come back to camp! As the school bells ring to get students in their classrooms, the Camp Erdman bell rings getting students to their classrooms - at Camp! During the school year, the amazing 32 acres on the North Shore becomes one enormous interactive classroom. Students learn Beach Ecology on the beach. They learn the composting process hands-on in our garden. They learn how to challenge themselves, reach their goals, and try new things.

YMCA Camp Erdman's school programs fall under two categories: Environmental Education and Leadership. The Environmental Education (EE) program is designed for students in grades one through six and focuses on applying classroom concepts in a real-world setting. The Leadership program is designed for students in middle and high school. It focuses on learning the skills of communication, cooperation, teamwork and trust through various group and individual challenges. Students are then taught how to apply these skills in their day-to-day lives.

"We were hiking just yesterday and one of my girls made a comment that it was the first time she had ever been hiking. She just had the biggest smile on her face doing it." - Ms. Rankin, Nanaikapono Elementary.

"The best [class] was Animal Adaptations. I got to touch a turtle - a real turtle, actually." - Student

For more information on School Programs, please contact Sarah Miller at 637-4615 x.25 or email her by clicking here.

Also on the horizon is Fall School Break Camp from October 3-8, 2010 and Halloween Family Camp October 29-31, 2010. For more information visit www.camperdman.net.

As always, a great way to stay in touch with us is on our Facebook Fan Page and our Twitter Feed. Check out lots of our great videos on our YouTube Channel.

Monday, July 19, 2010

From International Trainee to Reality TV

Aloha Blogosphere!

Summer Camp is underway and, in fact, it is almost over! We're in Session 6 right now with only three more sessions to go until the end of summer. If you're thinking about registering for one more week of Summer Camp, now is the time to do it! Spaces are going quickly and we're seeing more campers than ever re-registering after a great week of camp! Make sure you visit www.camperdman.net or call us at 808-637-4615 to register today!

International Training Program News:
Onto some exciting news! If you visited camp while the "Green Class" of internationals were here, you may remember Ana Moraes from Brazil. Well this International Program graduate is now starring on a Reality Television program in Brazil! Called "Bosao do Brasil," the program takes competitors around Brazil where they compete in Head to Head challenges and the chance to win R1,000,000 (One Million Real; $500,000USD). We're all rooting for Ana as she embarks on this fantastic opportunity. For more information (if you speak Portuguese) click here.

Hiroshima Program:
In it's 50th year, the YMCA of Honolulu--Hiroshima YMCA "Let's Get Together" Program participants departed for Japan this week. These ten participants are engaging in the longest running program of its kind in the United States. Participants are experiencing Japanese culture first hand and teaching their Hiroshima hosts all about the culture of Hawaii. The efforts of exchanging culture and friendship help our countries move toward mutual understanding and respect in the pursuit of world peace.

Hiroshima has the dubious distinction of being one of two Japanese cities that experienced first-hand the horrors of nuclear holocaust. Hopefully, with the important learning that will take place, it will go a long way in preventing the mistakes of the past from ever happening again.

Each program participant has engaged in a number of training opportunities and the actual trip to Japan is the result of months of hard work on the part of the program participants. YMCA Camp Erdman would like to extend a heartfelt mahalo to these young participants as they embark on a very important journey! Congratulations all.

As always, if you would like to contribute to "Erd's the Word", email your article to Peter McGregor - pmcgregor@ymcahonolulu.org

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Operation Purple & Session 1

Summer Camp 2010 is in full swing with lots of great things happening. The first two weeks of summer were dedicated to Operation Purple Camp. This camp for children of deployed members of all branches of our Armed Services is sponsored by the National Military Family Association through generous funding from the Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation. Each of these children walked away from camp with a greater sense of Environmental Education, Communication, Stewardship and their role as members of the Military Community. With an overall theme that "Military Kids Serve Too", these campers found common bonds through the unique challenges that they face every single day. Each week of Operation Purple Camp was highlighted by a special Military Experience Day that featured Military Police obedience dogs, Coast Guard boats, Helicopters (2 of them! One from the Marines, another from the Coast Guard), a Light Armored Transport Vehicle from the National Guard, a dive tank from the NAVY Dive Team and much much more. Nestor Carbonell from LOST and the new Batman movies even stopped by during the second week to pose for photos with the campers and sign autographs. It was a truly memorable two weeks and over 500 military kids attended!

Session 1 marks the first week of Traditional Camp at YMCA Camp Erdman. With eight more weeks to go, Session 1 kicks off with an Alien Invasion Theme. There are currently two aliens from the planet of Omnimata searching for their long lost children named Calcium and Sodium. Having drank a magic space potion, two counselors will be revealed this afternoon as being aliens!

There are still eight weeks of Traditional Camp ahead of us this summer and still plenty of spaces available. You can sign up by calling 808-637-4615 or by visiting www.camperdman.net

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cinco de Mayo


Today is Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May") and to celebrate, we've invited Memo from Mexico to share the history of the holiday with a little bit of help from Wikipedia. You can learn more about Cinco de Mayo by clicking here.

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin.

In 1861, Benito Juarez stopped making interest payments to creditor countries which put Mexico in a financial bind. In response, France attacked Mexico to force payment of its debt. France decided that it would try to take over and occupy Mexico. France was successful at first in its invasion; however, on May 5, 1862, at the city of Puebla, Mexican forces were able to defeat an attack by the larger French army. In the Battle of Puebla, the Mexicans were led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin. Although the Mexican army was victorious over the French at Puebla, the victory only delayed the French advance on Mexico City. A year later, the French occupied Mexico. The French occupying forces placed Emperor Maximilian I on the throne of Mexico in 1864. The French, under pressure from the United States, eventually withdrew in 1866-1867. Maximilian was deposed by President Benito Juarez and executed, five years after the Battle of Puebla.

The Battle of Puebla was important for at least two reasons. First, although considerably outnumbered, the Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army. Second, it was significant because since the Battle of Puebla, no country in the Americas has been invaded by an army from another continent.

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States. The date is observed in the USA and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

Friday, April 30, 2010

New Internationals Arriving Soon


Aloha Blogosphere!

We have not updated in quite some time and we apologize for this but we have been very, very busy preparing for one of our busiest and most exciting times: Summer Camp! Summer Camp is a great opportunity for kids from all over to join us here on the North Shore for fantastic weeks of safe, fun and adventure combining summer tradition and aloha spirit. If you have not already registered, be sure to do so soon as our registration is certainly picking up speed as we get closer and closer to the summer camp kickoff!

This summer we will have two fun-filled sessions of Operation Purple Camp for children in Military families followed by nine weeks of traditional summer camp adventures for kids of all backgrounds. Not only do these nine weeks of traditional summer camp include all of the amazing activities that our keiki love (archery, swimming, Alpine Tower, sports, games, exploring and more) but also Specialty Camps like Surf, Horsemanship, Rock Climbing and ESL! Be sure to click here for more information on our exciting summer programs.

We are excited to welcome twenty American camp counselors to help us this summer. These dedicated young men and women have gone through an extensive interview process that includes reference checks and background checks - we are confident that we have hired the best of the best for these positions. They will join the ten international program staff that are already here. Additionally, May 9th, 2010 welcomes the arrival of a whole new International Class full of ten exciting individuals. For more on that, we come to our guest blogger, Kaiulani from our Metro office:

Exciting News from YMCA Camp Erdman!

This May, ten new staff members will be joining the International Training Program out at YMCA Camp Erdman. The already prestigious program started just five years ago with a handful of staff and is now one of the most successful international training programs in the U.S.A.

If you are not familiar with the International Training Program, trainees from all over the world instruct school programs that oversee more than 5,000 keiki and teach them about the environment, leadership, and team building. All trainees are equipped with degrees in Education, Physical Education, Sports and Recreation or with a minimum of five years of experience working with kids in similar areas.

The current staff of eleven is a diverse group hailing from countries like Japan, England and everywhere in between. Once the ten new members join the group the amount of trainees will double in size! YMCA Camp Erdman hosts international trainees from Brazil, Canada, Columbia, England, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Senegal and Spain.

Hawaii has always been a diverse community and we are proud to say that YMCA Camp Erdman is carrying on the inclusive tradition of aloha.


Wow! Thanks for that great article, Kaiulani! Don't forget, all of those exciting International Trainees will be Summer Camp Counselors living in cabins and working with our keiki this summer! This can be seen on the YMCA of Honolulu website (click here).

Remember, you too can submit a blog article. Just email Peter McGregor or Sana Hanible to have your voice heard!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

YMCA Camp Erdman's Family Camp Weekends

Aloha Readers!

After a three month break, Family Camp season is back up and running at YMCA Camp Erdman! We've got various family camps coming up over the next nine months and we're very, very excited about them! If you're a military family, we've been lucky enough to partner with various organizations to provide family camps to members of our military community thanks to the fantastic generosity of these organizations. Click here for more information on military family programs.

Health, wellness, and a 10K race? Sounds like a recipe for family fun! Our Health & Wellness Family Camp is happening Easter Weekend (April 2nd-4th, 2010) with lots of great activities for the whole family. In the morning of Saturday April 3rd, we'll be running a 10K race for adults and a 2K race for keiki. Come and spend the entire weekend at YMCA Camp Erdman or participate in the race. Our program is designed to help you and your family connect together with many great activities. Do as much or as little as you choose! Do activities together as a family or divide up so that each member of your family can do they activities that they like to do. For more information, click here. Evening programs include family games and the infamous YMCA Camp Erdman Campfire Spectacular! Space is limited to be sure to sign up today!

We're constantly updating more than just our blog! Check out our Facebook Page and become a Fan, Follow our Tweets on Twitter, and watch our Vids on YouTube. If you're interested in learning about more of the great programs at YMCA Camp Erdman, make sure you subscribe for Email Updates.

That's all for now! If you're interested in contributing to the blog, be sure to email Peter McGregor with your article!