Dear Friends,

When you invest in young people, you invest in change. Please contribute today in support of the children and young people of the South and Appalachia.

Children's Camp

Today’s headlines: Tea Parties, mountain top removal, the passing of AZ SB 1070, the recent oil spill in the Gulf Coast, the international climate crisis, the economic crisis…. On any given morning opening up the newspaper or shifting through Internet blogs will reveal the underbelly of our tenuous political and economic times. What is our responsibility in this moment and how can we contribute to change in this seemingly dismal landscape?

Five days before Beth Uselton and Chad Winn were married at Highlander in 2008, there was a politically-motivated shooting at a Unitarian-Universalist church in Knoxville, TN. Uselton worried that many of her friends and guests would be scared to come out to the celebration; however, guests overwhelmingly assured her that they felt safer at Highlander than anywhere else.

Beth grew up at Highlander as a camper at the first Children’s Camp in the 80’s and later as a junior participant in her teens. This year she will be an adult workshop facilitator on healthcare, an issue that she organizes around for the Tennessee Health Care Campaign. It is fitting that this year’s camp theme is “All for Health and Health for All.”

“Highlander is my favorite place on earth,” Beth said. “One of my favorite memories at camp every year was watching the adults assemble a handmade slip-and-slide. With 30 feet of twisting hay bales, a water hose and Ivory Soap, the Highlander Hill transformed into an adventure I still have not forgotten.”

On June 13-19, we welcome children of different racial, ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, religious, and physical backgrounds for a week of sharing, fun, learning, and growing. Children’s Camp instills in young people the understanding of what it means to be part of and help create a more just world. Like the hay bales that formed the slip-and-slide, Highlander camp staff ensures each child’s journey will be both thrilling and safe.
Beth Uselton and hundreds of others growing up in the South and Appalachia find inspiration and support at Highlander.  They are the fierce leaders of today—working for universal healthcare and to end mountain top removal, racism and other injustices. Young people are also in the headlines. They are the Dream Act students, the climate change protestors, and on the front lines of demanding equal treatment for all young people in our nation’s schools.

Highlander is a unique space in the South, one that is even more necessary when the headlines of today read heavy. Please give to Children’s Camp this summer. When you give today, you are helping to guide the journey of the young people who gather at the Highlander Hill, just like the hay bales guided the children’s slip-and-slide experience of Beth’s Children Camp days.

Please consider a gift today in support of children and for a more just tomorrow.

You can send your check to 1959 Highlander Way, New Market, TN 37820 or give a secure donation at:
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=145

Onward!

Jardana Peacock and Marquez Rhyne