A is for Appetite

At Foley, our campers and staff have a special kind of hunger. Maybe it’s the rumbling in their bellies after a tough afternoon spent canoeing on Whitefish Lake, twisting in and out of yoga poses, and ringing the cowbell at the top of the climbing wall. Perhaps they’re especially ravenous dreaming of soda bread on Sunday mornings. But anyone at Foley, from the youngest fox campers to our oldest veterans, will tell you that the real appetite at camp is a true desire to be more, do more, and most of all, grow grit and investigate independence.

Campers wake up in the morning wanting to push beyond the boundaries they may have previously set for themselves. They try new activities, open their hearts to new friends, and discover new talents they never knew they had. They are not afraid of failure because they know that even the clearest path to success is riddled with it.

At the end of the day, after the dinner grace has been sung, food has been shared and eagerly eaten, and the last activities have come to a close, the counselors put their campers to bed knowing that their biggest challenge for the next day will be to provide them with the best opportunities for growth. The Camp Foley experience is a multi-course meal, the meat of which is the confidence kids have after seeing that there is no end to what they can accomplish. This is why the appetite here can never be fully satisfied; the possibilities are endless, and the growing never stops.

A camper works hard to get up on water skis for the first time.