The American Camp Association (ACA) has announced a $45.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment in support of a six-year initiative promoting character development for children at camps across the United States.

The Character at Camp program will help build and expand opportunities to bolster character-building skills and traits among young people focusing on gratitude, kindness, creativity, curiosity, perseverance, resiliency, empathy, courage, and teamwork—qualities central to the camp experience. According to ACA, dynamic camp experiences improve social connectedness among children, and those who attend camp have been shown to demonstrate these skills and traits in school as well as in their early careers.

Working with camp professionals and youth-development experts, ACA will make available in-person and virtual training opportunities, educational tools, and other resources to camps to strengthen, expand, or establish character development programs at the more than 15,000 year-round and summer camps across the U.S.

Starting in 2025, eligible nonprofit camps—without limitation as to mission, size, activities, programming, and location—will have the opportunity to apply for competitive one-, two-, or three-year grants of up to $300,000 to support their character development programs.

“We know camp experiences build a world of belonging and growth, and we’re excited to engage camps as they work to strengthen their character development programs,” said ACA president Tom Rosenberg.

“Lilly Endowment’s founders firmly believed that developing the character of young people was vital to the future of communities and our country,” said Lilly Endowment chairman and CEO N. Clay Robbins. “We believe [the] Character at Camp initiative can meaningfully enhance and expand character development…in a diverse array of young people throughout the nation.”

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