Camp
Fire USA
Alaska Council
161 Klevin Street, Ste. 100
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 279-3551
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Who
we are and what we do
Camp Fire USA Alaska Council’s programs build caring, confident youth
and future leaders through school-based child care, community centers
in low- income neighborhoods, resident and day camps and a rural Alaska program
that brings camp counselors to remote villages for summer programs. All programs
provide a safe, nurturing and enriching environment in which youth grow and
learn.
Camp
Fire serves over 5,000 youth each year, with over 1,200 participants
in our School Age Child Care program each day. Many youth also
spend their summers with us through day camps, residential
camps and our Rural Alaska Program. Not only do youth benefit from the agency's programs, but families are supported through year-round programming and the addition of trained, caring adult mentors in the lives of their children.
VISION STATEMENT
Every child will have an
opportunity to discover the best in themselves and others in
a fun and safe learning environment.
MISSION STATEMENT
We build caring, confident youth and future leaders.
VALUE STATEMENTS
Camp Fire USA Alaska Council makes these commitments to Alaska's youth and
families, the communities we serve, our staff and each other:
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Camp
Fire USA builds caring relationships. |
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Camp
Fire USA provides Alaska's youth with positive experiences
which promote healthy life choices. |
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Camp
Fire USA embraces diversity and inclusiveness in all of
its endeavors. |
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Camp
Fire USA provides outdoor programs which foster competence,
stewardship and joy with the natural world. |
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Camp
Fire USA strives towards excellence through innovation. |
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Camp
Fire USA operates quality programs which reflect best practices. |
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Camp
Fire USA acts as a trustworthy organization that ensures
experiences which are safe, secure and dependable. |
GUIDING
PRINCIPLES
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Camp
Fire recognizes that it is the children who are the primary
consideration in any Camp Fire activity.
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As
Camp Fire explores options for growth and new programming,
Camp Fire recognizes children thrive best when the child
to adult ratio is low and will promote small group efforts
where ever possible.
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Camp
Fire will strive for high quality in every youth development
program it offers and provide the highest level of support
possible to the agency's staff.
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Camp
Fire as an agency advocates for quality youth programming.
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CAMP FIRE USA ALASKA COUNCIL HISTORY

Dr.
Luther Gulick

Alaska Camp Fire Girls
Juneau Falls, 1914
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Camp Fire was founded in 1910 by Luther Gulick, M.D., and
his wife, Charlotte Gulick, as the first nonsectarian, interacial
national organization for girls in the United States.
Shortly after
the national agency was formed, Edith Kempthorne (from New
Zealand) started Alaska's first Camp Fire club in Juneau
in 1913 as part of a national movement to extend the Camp Fire
model through the “Guardians of the Fire” program.
Camp Fire was one of the first youth organizations in Alaska.
Edith was soon hired as the first field secretary of the national
office, in part due to her “frequent and lively” letters
from Juneau.
In 1916 she returned to assist Camp Fire’s founder and the
group of volunteers operating sporadically through the 20’s
and 30’s in Sitka, Wrangell, Nenana, Bethel, Kodiak, Homer,
Cordova and Juneau.
In 1959, the
first official Camp Fire council began operating as The Chugach
Council of Anchorage, serving 350 girls through
Camp Fire clubs. Camp Fire started Camp Yalani at King’s
Lake Camp in Wasilla in 1960 and offered two one-week sessions
each summer for girls.
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| The Alaska Council Takes Shape |
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Joan
Hurst, the Alaska Council’s first executive
director, arrived in 1962. Camp Si-La-Meo, Camp Fire’s
day camp program, was the first formal program launched in
1963. In 1964, following
the earthquake, Camp Fire Alaska Council received national support
from Camp Fire’s friendship fund. The local volunteers
gathered supplies and went to villages that had been impacted
by the quake. In Seward, a day camp was established that provided
activities for any girl who wished to come. Ninety-five girls
attended, in a week of pouring rain, to engage in Camp Fire’s
programs of cooking, hiking, creative arts and an overnight camping
trip. The children’s parents, relieved of the responsibilities
of child care, were able to devote their full energy to cleanup
and reconstruction. This was the beginning of the Council's Rural
Alaska Program.
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Joan Hurst cooks up some
"Gypsy Stew" |
| Camp Fire USA Alaska Council Today |
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In
1966 Camp
Kushtaka was officially born from the many volunteer hours
spent securing land permits, constructing buildings
and
clearing land.
As
Alaska entered the 1970's and 80's, and more parents began
working full-time outside the home, the problem of unsupervised
children in our communities became a
critical
issue. Along
with the population
boom
created by the pipeline construction there was a rapid growth in the numbers
of “latchkey” children. Children were often left unsupervised after
school hours. Hurst and others had a critical role in making the case for quality
child care to the Alaska State legislature, and created the Child Care Assistance
Program to assist working families with child care expenses. School
Age Child Care became a major program for the Council.
The Community Centers Program was started in 1978 by a team of Social Work
students in the Fairview and Mountain View neighborhoods in Anchorage.
The purpose of
the program was to provide safe, free and nurturing after-school alternatives
to youth in low-income neighborhoods. Today, Camp Fire USA Alaska Council operates
three community center programs in Anchorage. |
CEO
Barbara Dubovich
257-8806
e-mail
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Director
of Program Services
Nicole Lebo
257-8802
e-mail
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Director
of Operations
Michael Miller
257-8822
e-mail
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Director of
Finance
Carla Stephenson
257-8817
e-mail
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Director
of Marketing and Development
Joanne Phillips
257-8819
e-mail
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President
Barbara Rosetti
1st Vice
President
Barbara Henjum
2nd Vice President
John Gliva
Secretary
Joe Darnell
Treasurer
Don Rulien
President Emeritus
Ken Lord
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Directors
Jamie Abordanado
Ray Dinger
Barbara Dubovich, CEO
Nichole Gifford
Monica Kane
Jill Klein
Michael Kreger
Carol Richards
Tammy Sandoval
Steve Theno
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