Camp Wildcat

Camp Wildcat (CW) is a non-profit youth organization based in Tucson, Arizona which has served local disadvantaged youth since 1965. The organization is entirely operated by college students and is a recognized club at The University of Arizona.
Overview
Camp Wildcat events are all themed in a way to portray higher education and general success as attainable goals for the disadvantaged youth who participate in the programs.
Camps and other events
Some examples of the dozens of cost-free events produced and staffed by Camp Wildcat each year for local disadvantaged youth:
* Camping and hiking at the Grand Canyon
* Camping and hiking on Mount Lemmon and at other campsites around southern Arizona
* Indoor mock-camp with UMC pediatric patients
* Camps to help children discover other societies and cultures, new hobbies and career paths
* Activities with the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind
* Reunion picnics with former campers
Campers
The participants in Camp Wildcat's activities come from different places. For example:
* Schools with a high percentage of students in the National School Lunch Program
* Pediatrics units at Tucson hospitals
* Women’s and children’s shelters
* Centers for children with physical and mental disabilities
* Local Boys & Girls Clubs
Financial support
With no paid staff, Camp Wildcat operates on a very small budget. The college students who run Camp Wildcat coordinate many fundraising activities each year. The major sources of funding are:
* Private, tax-deductible donations
* Corporate Sponsorships
* Annual benefit auction
* Annual benefit concert
* ASUA funding
* Corporate product donations
* Grants
* Concessions stands at U of A basketball and football games
Primary expenses are campsite fees, insurance, and transportation (most food and equipment are donated; staff is volunteer).
History
Camp Wildcat was founded in 1965 by Richard Shogren. A U of A graduate student in urban planning, Shogren came to the University of Arizona from the University of California at Berkeley in the fall of 1964. He had been very involved at Berkeley's "Cal Camp" and decided that Arizona needed a similar program. The Student Senate's backing was obtained in the spring of 1965.
More Camp Wildcat history is available from the Camp Wildcat official website: http://campwildcat.org/history.
Facts about Camp Wildcat
* In 1969, Camp Wildcat started a fundraising carnival called The Rites of Spring. This evolved over the years into what is now Spring Fling, the largest student-run carnival in the United States.
* Several people who participated in Camp Wildcat as a camper have gone on to attend the University of Arizona and joined Camp Wildcat as a counselor.
* Camp Wildcat's student membership ranges from about 150-250 active members per semester.
* Camp Wildcat has over 4,000 alumni counselors, about 1,000 of which are members of the alumni organization, Friends of Camp Wildcat which was started in 2006-2007.

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