The Montgomery Academy’s Philanthropy 101 is a summer program where selected seniors are challenged and taught how their own abilities and everyday actions can make a difference in their communities. The course was designed by the W. James Samford, Jr. Foundation and The Montgomery Academy. Within the program curriculum, students learn “how to analyze a nonprofit’s financial statement and learn how a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization operates.”
The students do not earn school credit at the end of the course, but they are given a stipend that must be partly given to the nonprofit 501c3 organization of his or her choice. Throughout the beginning of the summer, the students travel to different nonprofits across the state like Camp ASCCA, Children’s of Alabama, Service Dogs Alabama and several more to help them confidently select an organization to receive a portion of their stipends.
Two weeks ago, the Philanthropy 101 students traveled to Camp to hear from Camp Director Matt Rickman and receive a tour of the grounds. During the meeting, Matt explained to the students how we operate as a nonprofit and how what we do is different than most summer camps. Several of the students in attendance have been going to a summer camp their entire lives, so they knew the impact that going to camp can have on someone’s life. Despite a rainy afternoon, the students also took a tour around the campus and had the opportunity to see each activity we offer and how we make them more accessible for our campers.
After the students visited all of the nonprofits, The Montgomery Academy hosted a special luncheon for the students and the representatives from each nonprofit organization to attend. On Friday, June 8, Camp Director Matt Rickman traveled to Montgomery, and at the luncheon, he was presented with a $500 donation from The Montgomery Academy’s Emma Cleary. Emma included a formal letter that states, “I so was touched by Camp ASCCA and its mission and immediately knew when I left camp that it was the organization I wanted to donate to. I really enjoyed learning about what the camp offers to people with disabilities and how camp can change their lives. Camp ASCCA is a remarkable place.” She was one of the students who has been impacted by summer camps growing up, and she said that she understands how valuable the special camp experience is.
We would like to say thank you to Emma Cleary for choosing Camp ASCCA as her donation recipient and to the Philanthropy 101 program for instilling the importance of community impact in the seniors of The Montgomery Academy each year!
Located in Alabama on Lake Martin, Camp ASCCA offers campers a wide variety of traditional recreational and educational activities with a unique design for accessibility.
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