Members of Young Life Club are encouraged to partake in the Young Life Castaway Camp in Detroit Lakes. The camp is held from June 30 to July 8 and requires a $799 deposit. However, according to head sponsor Jake Van Asten, the club provides multiple fundraising opportunities for members to lower the cost.

“If it happens to be a financial issue, we provide multiple fundraisers that allow (the kids) to raise the money themselves,” Van Asten said. “Often, kids can raise enough money to pay for the entire trip, or at least a good portion of it.”

Fundraisers include geranium sales and mulch work days. Forms for these fundraisers can be found at the Carmel Young Life Website. Students who wish to seek service outside of that particular camp have a variety of other options as well. Shana Porter, Young Life member and junior, chose a work camp over attending Castaway Camp.

“This summer I’m doing work crew. I basically do the dirty work at one of the camps, I’m not a camper or a leader,” Porter said. “It’ll be at the middle school camp mostly doing outdoors work. I’m also a Wyld Life leader, which is for the middle school Young Life, and I would be going to Michindoh in Michigan, but I won’t be able to go to camp with my kids because it overlaps.”