SHERIDAN — Consider, for a moment, the marketing genius of the ice cream truck.
Even the youngest children can recognize the ice cream truck tune, and many children know the schedule by heart, said Sheridan County YMCA Executive Director Liz Cassiday. From a young age, children know that if they are in the right place at the right time, something special awaits them.
But what about nutritious meals and exercise during the summer season? Wouldn’t it be nice if those resources were as easy to find as the ice cream truck?
“When we first started discussing the idea of our temporary camps, those conversations started with the ice cream truck and the Kona Ice truck,” Cassiday said. “All the kids know very well when those trucks are going to be in their neighborhood. There are kids we don’t see at the Y who know the ice cream truck hours by heart… We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a schedule where the kids knew they could find us every week at a certain time? ? ‘”
That question has been at the heart of North Heights Park’s weekly pop-up summer camps, now in their second year. And while the camps, a collaborative effort between the YMCA and The Food Group, have yet to reach ice cream truck levels of popularity, their model of bringing healthy food and exercise to kids has had some exciting results.
In an average week, 15 to 25 local children participate in the pop-up camps, said Jenny Tribley, director of the Food Group program. Cassiday said the age of the participants ranged from toddlers to high school students.
Some children are brought by their parents or grandparents. Others bike or walk to the park each week for free fun and games provided by the YMCA and bags of healthy food prepared and provided by The Food Group.
The goal of the camps is to remove any boundaries between children and the services they need, Cassiday said.
“There is no record and no expectations,” Cassiday said. “They just show up, have fun and play. And when they leave, they can take some food with them.”
Food Group Executive Director Keri McMeans said the pop-up camps are just the latest programming the organization has undertaken to give local children access to nutritious food. The organization has learned that partnerships with other nonprofits are key to getting food into the hands of children who need it: the Books and a Bite program at the Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library has been particularly successful. , McMeans said, and partnering with the YMCA seemed like a good way to advance the missions of both organizations.
“Our most successful shows, including this one, always have something to do with partnership,” McMeans said. “If we partner with another nonprofit like the Y, there really is no limit to what we can accomplish.”
Both Cassiday and McMeans credited the camps’ “on the street” model for bringing in children they had never served before through their respective organizations, and McMeans said there are initial talks about expanding the camps to another park or two. during the summer. of 2023.
“We will evaluate the program and what it has accomplished, but I think it might make sense to expand it to another park next year,” McMeans said. “We have identified some potential locations that we will talk about in the next couple of months.”
Cassiday said she was excited to continue and potentially expand the camps for years to come and find new ways to bring wholesome fun to kids who need it most.
“It’s a great way to strengthen each other’s missions without duplicating any services,” Cassiday said of the camps. “They (The Food Group) do food very well, and we do camps very well. So let’s put it together and enhance the good work everyone is already doing. I think it makes sense.”
Weekly pop-up camps are held from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm every Wednesday at North Heights Park.
