King’s Lake Camp Volunteer Staff Spotlight
Each summer, The Salvation Army King's Lake Camp welcomes hundreds of youth to its beautiful grounds in the Mat-Su Valley for a variety of camps such as Music Camp, Adventure Camp, Teen Camp and Salvation Army Youth Camp. In addition, volunteers from Alaska and beyond help manage the camp and the youth's daily activities.
Cameron Voss, from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is now in her fifth summer of working at The Salvation Army’s King’s Lake Camp in Wasilla and just finished her junior year of college.
Voss, a Salvationist who has a love for the outdoors, first applied for The Salvation Army’s Counselor in Training program for Salvation Army summer camps after her junior year of high school. She had a taste of travel in high school where she was able to travel to Egypt and since then she has been eager to explore new places and spending a summer in Alaska while training seemed like a dream. Shortly after applying to the program, she was surprised to hear good news that she was accepted into the training program for Alaska.
Voss, who started five years ago as a counselor in training now serves as King’s Lake Camp’s assistant director. When asked about her experience working with the campers, she said that because of her position, she often has most of her interactions with the kids who have difficulties adjusting at camp.
“Being here for five years, has let me see them grow and it’s just incredible to me because I see them change from day one,” said Voss. “From maybe not following the rules, pushing boundaries [and] seeing how far they can go to now, where they love their counselors, call me out by name and they talk about what they did in arts and crafts and [they act like] they’re just a kid. Which sometimes it’s obvious they didn’t have that same sense about themselves when they first started.”
At the camp, kids have a variety of free time activities to do including swimming, playing a camp favorite: “Ga-Ga Ball”, basketball, capture the flag, board games, archery and more. Voss, who grew up with an active family, is also a certified archery instructor. She teaches campers interested in archery the importance of safety and how to properly shoot a bow and arrow.
As assistant director of King’s Lake Camp, Voss works with counselors where she helps them grow as leaders for the camp. She hopes that counselors this year will consider taking on director roles next year.
“It boggles my mind sometimes when kids first line-up at camp, that I used to be there with the kids in training myself,” reminisced Voss. “Now I help run the whole camp including administrative work, dealing with conflict and making sure everything is working as it should.”
Although Voss isn’t sure if she will be able to return to King’s Lake Camp as a volunteer next year after graduating college, she sees her experience which allowed her to learn and grow each summer as irreplaceable.
To learn more about The Salvation Army King’s Lake Camp, visit https://kingslakecamp.salvationarmy.org/.