Camp Manitou is a camp for inner-city and underprivileged children located near Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. Camp Manitou was created in 1930 and run by six service clubs Rotary

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

, Kiwanis

Kiwanis

Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...

, Kinsmen

Kin Canada

Kin Canada is a secular Canadian non-profit service organization that promotes service, fellowship, positive values, and national pride....

, Optimist

Optimist International

Optimist International is an international service club organization with 3,200 clubs and almost 100,000 members in more than 35 nations throughout the world. The international headquarters is located in St...

, Lions

Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...

, Cosmopolitan and the YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

. The YMCA left in 1995. The camp currently offers summer programs to hundreds of inner-city children and youth every year. Each child is sponsored by an agency such as West Broadway Centre, Rossbrook House, Elim Chapel, Victory Baptist Church, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and others. Activities offered by the camp include archery

Archery

Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

, canoeing

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

, swimming, biking

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

, wall climbing

Climbing wall

A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors as well. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used is a thick multiplex board with holes drilled...

, a ropes course

Ropes course

A ropes course is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high and/or low elements. Low elements take place on the ground or only a few feet above the ground...

, zip-line

Zip-line

A zip-line consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline...

 and crafts. The goal of the camp is to give children who would otherwise not have an opportunity an experience that will help them improve their self-confidence and break the cycle of poverty

Cycle of poverty

In economics, the cycle of poverty is the "set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention."...

.

Mission statement

"Camp Manitou is committed to carry on, without pecuniary gain, objects of a charitable nature such as the relief of poverty and the advancement of education through its services to children and adults. "Education" means teaching social, cultural and life skills through planned camp activities. "Relief of poverty" means using camping activities to help children obtain a sense of independence and self worth so they can break the cycle of poverty. "

Location and facilities

The camp is located west of Winnipeg on the Assiniboine River

Assiniboine River

The Assiniboine River is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked within a flat, shallow valley in some places and a steep valley in...

  on Green Oaks Lane. The camp has a main lodge called Kinsmen Lodge, that is used as a cafeteria

Cafeteria

A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...

 and has many bedrooms for overnight groups. The John Bock Friendship Centre was opened in 1997 and is used as a multi-purpose facility and a gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

. There are also six cabins, each sponsored by one of the service clubs, and a variety of equipment and facilities for activities.

History

During the 1920s the Juvenile Court in Manitoba found the need to develop a summer program for boys. Test camps were run at other locations but a permanent camp was set up at the Camp Manitou location in 1930. The camp was run out of tents for the first decade before box cars were brought in, divided in two and used as cabins.

External links

• Camp Manitou