Nathan S., Age 14
Tribe of Levi

Camp is often thought about as a place to have fun. Without a question, there is a myriad of
enjoyable experiences in Camp Gilgal—from pool days to camp games to even rafting. What I am going to write about may differ from your conventional way of thinking about ‘fun.’ That activity is farming.

Early in camp, campers get the opportunity to not only experience something new and different, but also give back to the community. That opportunity is to help harvest plants in the local farm. The farm we are located near has 30 acres of land. Usually farms should have two people working for every acre, so in this case there should be 30 workers. However, this farm has only five workers. This is why it is so important to volunteer there. That’s where Camp Gilgal comes in.

When we were at the farm, we did a variety of things. We started off by putting together boxes and stacking them. This was very easy and satisfying. It was even bordering on addictive. We moved on to pack leaves called swiss chard. Many of these leaves had very beautiful red, orange, or yellow colors. We then moved on to picking garlic scapes, which was my personal favorite. The simple act of snipping them is very satisfying to me.

We wrapped our day at the farm off by picking up rocks in order to clear the path for the ground to be useable. I liked the feeling of finding a really big rock to put away. What really made this trip extra meaningful was the fact that the food we picked was to be donated to a food bank. Not only did we help the farm, but we helped the community as a whole.

In conclusion, Camp Gilgal is a lot of fun and the fact that we can give back to the people around us makes this camp feel very meaningful. Plus, the actual act of helping can be enriching and unique. I would definitely recommend coming here.