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About Us : Camptown History
Our Founder
Tom Lehman founded Camptown in 1991. Camptown is a 501 (c) (3)
non-profit company
as designated by the IRS and the Internal Revenue Code.
In February of 1993, Tom left the business world to work full time for
Camptown. The driving force was to make a positive difference in the
lives of youth. Tom wanted to give youth from all backgrounds an
opportunity to expand their views beyond their current environment.
Tom's goal was that the Camptown experience would enrich the lives of
the youth and give them a positive life-changing experience.
Camptown
is not a traditional camp and concentrates more on developing
leadership and life skills that each student can use all of their life.
Camptown, along with the youth they serve, plan wilderness outings
centered on backpacking trips along mountain trails. Besides leadership
and life skills, Camptown teaches teamwork, develops a positive
self-image, builds confidence and teaches good moral behavior.
Camptown's beliefs are based on Christian principles and encourage
youth to get involved with local churches.
Since 1993, Camptown has grown to 3.5 employees with the same
dedication and goals that Tom brought when he founded the program.
Sadly, Tom passed away in 2003.
Camptown has served the following unduplicated youth:
| 1993 - 60 |
1994 - 97 |
1995 - 150 |
1996 - 200 |
| 1997 - 225 |
1998 - 300 |
1999 - 320 |
2000 - 400 |
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2001 - 417 |
2002 - 194 |
2003 - 178 |
2004 - 174 |
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2005 - 254 |
2006 - 569 |
2007 - 444 |
2008 - 1,102 |
| 2009 - 2,228 |
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Population Served
As recent research has shown, youth from all walks of life share in many of the
same challenges. All youth can benefit from the life skills learned on a Camptown
adventure. Limiting outreach to a particular group or area leaves many youth
behind. Camptown is open to all children and adolescents regardless of background
or income. Our organization serves Central Indiana, with 88% of participants
coming from Marion County, 9% from Hamilton County, and 3% from other surrounding
counties. Many of the youth come from economically disadvantaged homes. About
44% of participants qualify for free school lunches. We are actively developing
programs
to meet the needs of families, younger children, and youth with disabilities.
Most of our youth participants are between nine and eighteen years old.
Read our latest newsletter.
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