MALIBU— The Non-profit organization, United in Harmony reminded kids of the advantages of sunny California weather in winter during the President’s Day weekend at Camp Harmony. The organization, which provides for children living under the poverty line, opened up their annual President’s Day winter camp session on February 14. Canyon News contacted United in Harmony Executive Director Wendy Klappholz for more insight into the Winter Camp’s festivities.
According to their website, “United in Harmony is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization that was established in 1989 as a response to homelessness and [poverty-stricken] children in [their] community.” United in Harmony’s overnight camp program,
Camp Harmony, “is designed to help children develop positive self-esteem and to thereby inspire and empower campers in their future endeavors.”Â
The camp is offered twice a year, once during President’s Day weekend, and again during the third week of August. The winter session camp has been around for nine years. The camp initially started in 1989 “with a very small group of campers and volunteer staff,” Klappholz informed Canyon News that almost 300 kids attended last week’s camp session. The campers had “90 high school aged counselors and 75 adult support staff volunteers.” The camp leases out an accredited camp facility in
Malibu for all their camps. “We had a few new programs and guests at camp this session, perfect weather and a wonderful weekend for [the] campers, staff and friends of Harmony,” said Klappholz. The kids participated in activities such as dance, yoga, soccer, basketball, drama, arts and crafts, hiking and games.
The number of campers who attend the bi-annual camp starts at around 300 and goes up, making the summer camp more popular due to its longer duration. The kids who attend range from the ages of 7-18, but children that are 7”“11 years of age attend the camp free of cost. High school students can volunteer to become camp counselors once they’ve reached grades 10”“12.
