Dear Kenwood & Evergreen Families,

With Thanksgiving coming up in 24 hours, I’m taking stock of all that I am grateful for.

It starts with you. And your amazing kids! And this lifetime I’ve had of leading this inspiring community.

As you know, with Jack and Sylvia stepping into the Director roles, I’ve now got some bandwidth to shift my focus even more to the wider world of kids, camps, families, and how decisions about our collective future are made in Washington, DC.

This is no small task, but it is an amazing opportunity, and it allows me to take my experience as a camp director and combine it with my passion for policy.

So this fall, I moved to DC for a month to do something new and kind of crazy.

What I’ve been working on that goes beyond our gates. Something that ultimately benefits every child who walks through them.

It looks like this:

26 million kids attend camp each summer across America.

21,000 camps operate from coast to coast.

And yet, there’s never been a formal Camp Caucus on Capitol Hill.

We are currently working to change that.

Why This Matters for K&E Families

You know firsthand what camp provides. The friendships, the growth, the space for your kids to discover who they are.

But what’s less obvious is how camps like ours exist within a larger policy landscape.

When Congress allocates billions for childcare, camps aren’t in the room.

When mental health funding flows to youth programs, camps are often an afterthought.

When workforce development initiatives launch, no one thinks about the million (yes, a million) young people camps employ each summer.

Half of all school-aged children spend part of their summer at camp.

We provide critical childcare for working parents.

We’re the largest sphere of summer youth development in America.

And we’ve never had a formal voice in Washington.

What I’m Building

This fall, as Co-Chair of the American Camp Association’s Government Relations Committee, I headed to Washington to build the first formal Congressional Camp Caucus.

The goal is straightforward:

Find congressional champions willing to put their names behind camps, create briefings to educate members about our collective impact, and build a coalition to make camps part of the legislative conversation.

This isn’t just about Kenwood & Evergreen. It’s about securing the future of the camp experience for all children, K&E kids included.

During COVID, when camps mobilized to get open and secure critical funding, we proved what was possible.

Now we’re working to make sure that kind of influence isn’t just reactive, but permanent.

Follow Along

Over the coming months, through ACA, I’ll be sending updates about this work in Washington.

Hill meetings, strategies, wins, and yes, setbacks. This is a behind-the-scenes look at how advocacy works and how camps are claiming their place in policy conversations.

Want to follow this journey?

You can subscribe to receive updates every two weeks.

You’ll learn how policy decisions affect camps like ours, seeing the advocacy process unfold in real time.

And there will be plenty of opportunities to engage if you’re interested in Hill Days, connecting with local representatives or simply staying informed.

21,000 camps speaking with one voice is impossible to ignore.

I’m proud to be doing this work to ensure that the camp experience your children love, that has shaped generations, has a seat at the table where decisions about youth development are made.

And I can’t wait to be back on Eagle Pond this summer, waking your kids up each day, leading Friday night services, debriefing the day with Jack, making pizza with campers on my deck, and seeing the impact first hand.

For camps everywhere,

Scott Brody

Co-Chair, ACA Government Relations Committee

Director, Kenwood & Evergreen Camps

PS - The New England Reunion was amazing!

So great to see so many K&E kids and families! Can’t wait to see even more of you. in NYC in a couple of weeks!

114 Eagle Pond Rd, Wilmot, NH 03287
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​