Summer 2019 Wrap Up

We love it when we are able to share the joy of nature with as many youth as possible, and Summer 2019 was our biggest summer yet. Between mid June and August, we created 1,512 individual experiences for visiting youth and teens. In June, we kicked things off with a special program called SomerStart, where over 40 youth from Somerville spent ten days at Farrington in between the end of the school year and the start of camps. With two weeks on our land, kids were able to dive deeply into their favorite aspects of nature--whether it was our pond, an exciting hike, or our beloved farm animals.

In July and August, we hosted 1,099 one-day visits with camp groups from Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, Somerville, Malden, and beyond. Long-time partners Cambridge Adventure Day Camp and Daybreak Day Camp, both part of Cambridge Camping Association, each engaged campers in 3-4 visits, allowing for enriched learning like survival skills and music in nature.

Thanks to our recently-renovated barn, we enjoyed increased space for rainy days. Five groups from Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) brought their campers out for an overnight stay, sleeping in tents under the stars after an evening of a campfire and s'mores. Feedback from youth who visited in summer 2019 demonstrated that their time spent at Farrington may have influenced their comfort level in nature: Upon arriving for the day, only 57% of campers said that they felt "very" or "kind of" comfortable in nature, while at the end of the day, 74% of youth responded positively. We look forward to continuing to create meaningful experiences in nature for youth during this school year.