College Station church partners with YMCA for inaugural week-long summer camp

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - For years there has been talk about opening a YMCA location in the Brazos Valley.

“We have been raising money in the community to provide scholarships and seed money to start programming,“ said David Stryjewski, senior vice president of operations for the YMCA of Central Texas.

This week, the YMCA partnered with Fellowship Church in College Station to put on a week long inaugural summer day camp and that’s just the beginning.

“We’re trying to fill the gap. So, we ran this one-week pilot camp to kind of get the name of the Y services out there, and we think it’s been a success and the kids have had a great time. We’ll begin work on trying to get all 10 weeks for next summer to be able to fulfill a bigger gap for the community going forward,” Stryjewski said.

The camp was a labor of love for Founders Board Member and parent Becky Chumley.

“There’s been a huge void for family resources in the Brazos Valley. Our community’s changed a lot. It’s not the same that it was 20 years ago, 50 years ago,” began Chumley. “Both cities have been super supportive of the YMCA programming, and trying to find ways that we can have resources for families to keep families here.”

Twelve campers signed up for the pilot week-long camp, a number Brazos Valley YMCA extension director hopes will increase next summer.

“We’d love to have at least 30 to 40 kids next summer. There’s a lot of planning and a lot to be done. But again, we just wanted to get this off the ground and get it going,” Collins emphasized.

Organizers are not just looking to increase how many kids enroll in the summer camp.

“It would be great to have a facility. There’s a lot that goes into that, a lot of ‘what ifs’ and different routes. In the meantime, we’re going to get this YMCA programming going in this area, and you’ll see a lot of stuff coming out here over the next six months to a year and then again, by next summer [we’ll launch] that full 10-week camp,” added Collins.

The campers enjoyed indoor and outdoor activities like arts and crafts, archery, snow cones, rock climbing, and a camper favorite: A water slide.

Federica, an 11-year-old YMCA camper, told KBTX, “We make new tricks like the kaboom, the cannonball, the jumping backwards. It’s just so much fun!”