Virgil Claassen spent 18 years volunteering regularly at Camp Friedenswald, including six years of service on the Camp Board. He shares the following reflection on what those years meant to him as part of a collection of stories in honor of Camp’s 75th anniversary.

Volunteering at Camp Friedenswald for 18 years has been a rewarding experience. I fully resonate with the goals of camp leadership. The programming for summer camps for our young people is to care for and respect each person, to love God, and to foster an appreciation of nature. All this is taking place in a beautiful wooded environment. It is amazing and encouraging to observe all the ways Camp Friedenswald is addressing the need for environmental stewardship.

Working with the staff was an enriching experience. It was good to see how well the staff works together, how they respect each other and the volunteers. This created a congenial work environment. I also appreciated the maintenance directors. They would explain the project we were to work on, then trusted us to use our own ingenuity in carrying it out.

I started volunteering in 2004 with the construction of the first of the six new girls cabins – later referred to as the North Cabins. Cal Graber and I did much of the finish work on the inside of these cabins. After that work was completed, there were plenty of other volunteer opportunities. Some of the projects were building coat racks; replacing thresholds, door jams, and windows; building storage shelving; making picture frames; hanging pictures and building a number of directional signs that one sees at different locations around the camp. Later the six new boys cabins were built – referred to as the South Cabins. The guest house (Sandhill Lodge) and the chapel (Cottonwood Center) were renovated at this time as well. During the time of construction, several of us volunteers were busy building 34 new bunk beds and many more coat racks.

Now when I visit the camp and see those projects I had worked on, I am filled with gratitude that I was able to contribute in a small way to the mission of the camp. During the years of volunteering, I served on the camp board for six years, two as board chair. To be responsible for staff and program direction, was humbling, to say the least. But I was privileged to be on the board when we did a comprehensive program review. The Seven Core Values arose from that review process and they are still the foundation of Camp Friedenswald programming today. Thank you, Camp Friedenswald Staff, for the memorable, enriching years of volunteering at camp.