About Camp Hapitok

Camp Hapitok was founded in 1970 and serves children with speech/language disorders in San Luis Obispo County. Each camper is hand selected by their local Speech/Language Pathologist, and then paired 1:1 with a specially trained teen volunteer for 4 weeks of summer camp. During camp, the teen volunteers and campers do everything thing together - but the teen volunteer is always focused on their campers speech/language goals. Campers get 30 minutes of intensive small group speech therapy each day, and the teen volunteer (TIGR) is trained to provide constant support, prompting and reinforcing of their individual campers speech/language goals. Camp Hapitok runs one 4-week session, and during that 4 weeks most campers meet or exceed their Annual IEP goals for the targets they are working on.

Heading into our 45th year, our partnership with our lead sponsor - the County Office of Education - has changed, and we are in need of YOUR help to #SaveCampHapitok

What We Need & What You Get

In order to hold Camp Hapitok 2015 - our 45th year - we need to raise at least $55,000. These funds will cover staff costs, food, transportation, supplies, field trips, camp shirts, small incentives and leave us with a small amount of seed money for Hapitok 2016!!

When you donate to Camp Hapitok, you are actively participating in making a difference in 56 lives this summer- 28 elementary students with special needs, and 28 teenagers who are volunteering their summers.

When you make a donation - you could also receive:
A purple bracelet
A handwritten postcard from a Camper, TIGR or Staff Member
An awesome purple t-shirt (purple is our camp color)
Your very own camp name and name-tag
and more!

The Impact

Students involved in Camp Hapitok are impacted for a lifetime.  Ryan is a Princeton student and former camper whose life was changed after attending the camp as a sixth grader.  After a challenging 6th grade year, where he struggled with his speech/language disorder, the skills he gained at Camp Hapitok gave him a new-found confidence.  He blossomed in middle school and high school, eventually returning to Camp Hapitok as an outstanding TIGR and later a staff member.  Ryan is currently attending Princeton University on a full scholarship, and credits Camp Hapitok as a springboard to his success.

Risks & Challenges

In late January, our partnership with our primary partner, the San Luis County Office of Education, changed. We found out that we can no longer exist in an operator/employer partnership, and we need to become an independent organization. This, while best for Hapitok in the long term, has created a fiscal crisis in the present. 

In a very short amount of time we need to:

• Raise at least 55K to hold Camp 2015
  
• Find an independent agency to provide HR and Payroll support
• Define new process and procedures to make sure that we are providing the gold standard experience to our Campers, TIGRs and Staff. 
• Determine the strategy to secure 150K for Camp Hapitok 2016 and beyond
  

Other Ways You Can Help

• Share our story!
• Use the Indiegogo Share tools to get the word out!
  

#SaveCampHapitok