Meet Anna Hopkins, Director of Friends Camp By Meghan McCarthy

For the past year Anna has taken on any and everything on her own.  Anna is the only full time year round staff member at Friends Camp and she enjoys it that way.  I spent 40 minutes on the phone with Anna on Monday morning, and here is what you need to know:

Anna started in camping like many do, as a child. She attended a camp in the Northeast corner of Maryland.  Anna was “entranced by camp as a kid”. She said she always looked forward to her time at camp each summer.  After spending a few summers working at her childhood camp, she moved on and began working at Friends Camp in 2011,Where she worked her way up the ranks and is now the Director.

Friends Camp is a Quaker camp and Anna loves being able to give kids a space to talk freely about Faith.  She says that Friends Camp is open to all, but it gives those who do attend and are Quaker the opportunity to connect with others with similar values.

While Anna and I were chatting, I asked Anna to do a little bragging, boy does Anna has lots to be proud of!  In the past year Anna was able to increase enrollment at Friends Camp by ten percent.  For a one-woman team, Anna should be shouting that from the rooftops! Anna spilled her secrets with me on what helped her accomplish such great growth! First she streamlined her online presence, she updated the Friends Camp website and made it much more user friendly.  Second she skipped the camp fairs where she was one of many camps and asked local Quaker schools to host her during a parent event.  She was able to get in front of the right people without them being overwhelmed by so many other camp choices.  Lastly, Anna said that she was able to empower families to help her do some recruiting as well.  She sent camper families brochures and info about camp that they could share with friends.  Growing camp enrollment is no small task. Anna had a plan and was able to see all her hard work pay off!

Any idea is better when seasoned by others

Anna is very excited and hopeful for what is to come from The Summer Camp Society this fall.  She said that she got involved with The Summer Camp Society because she can often feel alone but she wanted a peer group to be able to connect with and share ideas with.  She said something that I really loved and it could not be truer, “Any idea is better when seasoned by others” and that is exactly what TSCS will do not only for Anna but for all of us who are participating.