The Mission

Boxer, the horse in Orwell’s, Animal Farm, was a very good, and very hardworking creature. He believed that the solution to all problems was simply to work a bit harder. Thus, he worked ever harder, doing things right, until finally, he had worked himself to death. His life was so consumed with doing things right that there was no time to consider whether he was doing the right thing.

On March 2, 2008, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. has attained a new world record: “More than one in every 100 adults is now in jail or prison.” Add to this a record number of school shootings, acts of violence, dropouts, and suicides among American youth, and we begin to wonder, “How can this be possible in the land of the free?

In light of the billions-upon-billions of dollars – not to mention volunteer hours – donated to charity to prevent just such a situation, how can it be? Perhaps we have been so consumed with doing what we do so well, doing things right, that we have failed to do the right thing. It is easy to see how this can happen.

Consider the kind-hearted doctor whose beloved daughter was stricken with cancer. He was so agonized over her painful symptoms that he unwittingly permitted the deadly growth to enlarge, thereby increasing her pain. Treating symptoms, instead of the illness, increases the seriousness and complexity of a dilemma.

For this reason, the sights of The Camp*aign for American Kids remain fixed on the one problem from which all others proceed. It is the fundamental reason why a perfectly beautiful and normal infant becomes a person who steals cars, vandalizes property, disrupts a classroom, bullies others, disrespects authority, can’t hold a job, abandons his/her family, resorts to drugs, lives in poverty – and then draws on the heart-felt, but symptom-oriented charity that could have helped a child avoid such a destructive path in the first place!

The Camp*aign for American Kids exists to promote the most effective means available – the Joint Outdoor-Ecumenical Youth program, or Joey – for preparing young people for the challenges of modern life, which have shattered the lives of so many vulnerable youth.

Tens-of-thousands of children attend Joeys each year. However, there are far more who wish, and desperately need to attend, but financial hardship, layoffs, and now a recession have simply made it impossible. By far, the worst part of this is that, the kids who cannot afford a Joey are the very ones who are the most likely to stumble upon a path leading to a life of poverty, misery and despair.

The Camp*aign works to boost public awareness throughout the country about the critical link between those who attend Joey programs, and children who are balanced and well-adjusted. Studies show that Joey kids are simply more likely to avoid a path leading to a lifetime of sadness. The reason for this is that a Joey program provides an environment which permits the convergence of factors that are critical to the normal neurobehavioral formation of a child.

Continued......