“There are so many things that I love about the Arizona Family Campout (AZFCO). We do so many fun things! On the first day they welcome you with a nice smile and greeting, then we build our tent and when you come if you need help setting up your tent they are there to help. When all the families get set up the main AZFCO helper Louie, gives a safety speech and tells us how to keep the area clean. There are volunteers who help Louis out and are very nice. Most of them help out at every family camp out! After Louie speaks we get ready to go on a hike and he teaches us about the different plants and animals. The best parts of camping are the campfire, the activities, and making new friends.
Every camp out we do something to help the environment like making bat boxes or digging up buffel and fountain grass. Then the last day we do this thing called Geocache were we use a GPS and put in coordinates to find cool little bottles full of toys, but you must only take one. When we get back you pack up and get ready to go, but before leaving we do archery and make bracelets. Louis will tell you what to do at the archery range, he’s very good. Then we make survival bracelets. The string they are made out of is actually strong enough to be used to survive if you had to! There are also lots of games to play throughout the day like ladder ball, bean bag toss, ring toss, giant Jenga and a giant connect four game. When you first get to camp there are t-shirts, hats, stickers, brochures, book marks, water bottles, lunch boxes, and their newest arrival PINS. All for free, but make sure to leave enough for the other campers!
When you wake up they greet you with a smile and some hot coffee and cocoa for the kids. Every one there is so nice they have been running camps for 9 years, if you start to like the AZFCO you can become a volunteer yourself, you just have to go through lots of training but you can still help out even if you are not a volunteer! The best part about camp is you get to meet new people and make new friends and hang out. My least favorite part about camp is when we have to leave and there is a chance that you might not be able to see your new friends next time. Did I mention That the people there are really nice? Haha. I hope you enjoy AZFCO as much as I do!”
Reprinted with permission. Photos from other campout programs throughout the year.
