Camp Felix Pride 2024 Recap!

Our Camp Felix Pride 2024 summer session has come to an end and what an amazing season it was!! First, we want to thank our Felix Family for the overwhelming amount of support we received this year, from individual donations, grants, and our fantastic fundraising events. Your efforts and dedication to our mission have allowed us to provide foster children with an experience of a lifetime. Not only do these children get to enjoy all of the fun that Camp Felix Pride has to offer but they leave with impactful connections and a newfound sense of belonging.

This year marked our Third Annual Camp Felix Pride and it just keeps getting better! We had 22 Campers and 12 counselors join us for five fantastic days of fun in the sun at Club Getaway! Club Getaway is our camp host site in the beautiful green mountains of Connecticut. They offer our campers engaging adventures, rustic country cabins and endless opportunities to make new connections and strengthen bonds with their fellow campers through shared experiences. We could not be more grateful for all of the Club Getaway staff!

This year's camp was special in many ways but the most notable is our partnership with the nonprofit, A BroaderWay. A BroaderWay Foundation was founded in 2010 by Idina Menzel and a group of artists and activists who are dedicated to bringing performing arts programs to underserved youth. They so graciously sent three staff members for three full days of Camp Felix Pride to host a plethora of performing arts programming! This included spoken word poetry, dancing, acting, and singing workshops. Our campers' talents and passions got to soar because of this program. There is nothing quite as special as seeing our campers' souls shine through their creativity. Thank you so much A BroaderWay!

In addition to our stellar programming, Camp Felix Pride campers are offered a multitude of outdoor adventure activities everyday through Club Getaway. They got to swim in the lake, kayak, zipline, climb rock walls, conquer obstacle courses, try their hand at archery and much more!

The highlight and most beloved event by both campers and staff is the last night of camp. We host a dance party and talent show, “The House of Felix”. Our returning campers look forward to this night all year, and we feel so proud to offer a space for our young LGBTQ+ kids to express themselves authentically. They get to participate in a talent show, group dance numbers, dress up, and a disco dance party … and of course we top it all off with a late night pizza and cake party! It doesn’t get better than that! Special thank you to A BroaderWay and The House of Labeija for embracing and encouraging our campers many talents and offering them a night they will never forget.

2023 Camp Felix Pride Achievements:

24 children participated in the program
Age Range: 10 to 18
Started our Counselor-in-Training program with 6 older teenagers
100% of youth served reside in the five boroughs of NYC
100% of youth served are part of the foster care system
100% of youth served identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community (a small number classified themselves as allies. This provided a safe way for children who are not “out” to still participate)
5 days of adventure, laughter, and new experiences
Countless amazing memories created with new friends and supportive staff
78% of youth said they “overcame at least one personal goal”
94% said “my counselors encouraged me and helped me succeed” while at Camp Felix Pride

While the outcomes above are amazing, we are most humbled by something we were just recently made aware of: Camp Felix Pride actually saves lives. The clinical staff at The New York Foundling shared with us that several Camp Felix Pride campers have listed in their files that Camp Felix Pride is one reason to keep living. Given the extreme challenges LGBTQ+ foster youth face, programs like Camp Felix can be so much more than just a fun summer space- they can quite literally be a life saver.

We thank our supporters once again for all you do to make this opportunity possible for these deserving young people!