“Arriving at the ACCA Co-operative Youth Leadership Program for my first year I felt nervous and withheld. Would anyone like me? Would I even make friends? I had been to camps before but I never knew what I would be getting into going here. After my first week of camp I knew that I had been hooked into a good thing. This was the place where I met many of the friends that I have become closest with. However, going to the ACCA Co-operative Youth Leadership Program was more than just meeting friends and building relationships; it was a time of growth in my life. At this program, I learned to truly appreciate myself and I learned what I can offer to others. Participating in this program challenged me to conquer my fears and showed me how to appreciate the skills that I had. It also gave me an opportunity to share myself with others in a way that I had never been able to before; we were connected as a group and just being ourselves was good enough.
This was one of the greatest opportunities that I think I was given as a leadership program. How I have seen change in myself and others in just one week, is an indicator of just how important this place becomes to the campers. It is an escape for a week where we can just be in the here and now, and not have to worry about everything going on at home. It is a week to focus on ourselves and truly reflect on who we want to become.”
~ Grad Participant 2010
“The first time I attended the ACCA Co-operative Youth Leadership Program held at Goldeye Centre, I didn’t know what to expect. I had been at many camps before and thought it would be just like those. Little did I realize, this one would change my life. Throughout my years as a participant and then as a volunteer staff member, I learned more about cooperatives, leadership, public speaking, agriculture, values, and community then I thought possible. I have made many friends over the years who I still talk to today. But more than that, it made me want to give back to the ACCA program by helping youth have the same sort of positive experiences I had.
When I try to explain why I love volunteer staffing at this program, most people don’t get that it isn’t “just another camp”; it is the only camp that I feel I have gotten so much out of and that I need to keep returning so I can continue to learn. The ACCA Co-operative Youth Leadership Program has helped me become the person I am today. I have developed leadership and organizational skills, which come from facilitating sessions and committees; social skills, such as proper communication techniques from interacting with so many different people over the years, as well as problem-solving skills.
I look forward to helping youth make the most out of their program experiences and hopefully take away skills they can use for the rest of their life. It is the whole experience at the program, including the ‘Goldeye Magic’ as we call it, that keeps you wanting more, and keeps me coming back to feel it again year after year.”
~Former participant and current volunteer staff member
“If there was one place, away from home, that was anything like home; it would be the one week in summertime I get to spend at Goldeye as a participant of the ACCA Co-operative Youth Leadership Program. I have attended for four years now and am sad that next year will be my last year as a participant. The ACCA Co-operative Youth Program is amazing and so is the volunteer staff. There hasn’t been one year that I haven’t learned something new. Every summer, I go back, meet new people, and learn more about cooperatives, public speaking, government, and team building. Reuniting with old friends year after year and making new ones, it is hard to believe how much you can learn about one person in a week! When it comes time to say good bye to everyone at the end of the week, there are tears of joy and sadness. Everyone who has been there would agree with me in saying that attending one week of the program is one of the most life changing experiences you could imagine. The friendships and memories made during the week with the ACCA volunteer staff and fellow participants are ones that will last a life time. The ACCA Co-operative Youth Program is very welcoming to new comers and ensures that you have a great time while you are there.”
~ 2011 Youth A Participant
The ACCA Co-operative Youth Program experience reminds me of cliff diving. Once you know about it, you want to go very badly, so you over pack your tiny car, drive miles away to the perfect spot, and hike out to the highest cliff (or the highest one by your stomach’s feeling!). When you walk out to the edge, you’re overwhelmed by a feeling of excitment and nerves, which is very similar to my feelings when the busload of kids showed up! But the second you leap off that cliff, the rush of it makes you want to do it over and over again, the same way this program will be bringing me back every year. The feeling you get from the ACCA Co-operative Youth Program is just that, you want more and more all the time, because the people there understand you even though they have only just met you. I forged friendships in a week that made me feel like I had known these people my whole life. The fact that the location at Goldeye Centre is abolutely beautiful is just a bonus; the people will amaze you, their courage will melt your heart, and the community that is formed will create perma-fuzzies to last a lifetime.
I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the whole world, in fact, I’m framing my very first ‘I’ poster, and my first ever fuzzy are hanging on my bedpost so I never forget my first year!
~ 2011 First year Volunteer Staff Member
More testimonials coming soon…
