Camp Fire Alaska | Light the Fire Within

Spark Blog

Spring Break Learning Experience: A Visit With Snakes

This week, children attending Camp Fire Alaska’s Spring Break Camp got the opportunity to see snakes up close — and ...

2024 Absolutely Incredible Kid Day | Resources

How frequently do we show appreciation for the youth in our lives? Absolutely Incredible Kid Day is Camp Fire’s national ...

Sparking Equality: 2024 Bettye Davis Summit

Equality, equity – justice. Those three words were the driving force of this year’s Bettye Davis African American Summit. The summit ...

Summer Camp: How It Benefits Youth

Summer Camp: How It Benefits Youth

For past attendees, summer camp is a repository of happy childhood memories. It is a time where children come together ...

Lighting the Spark: Winter Break Camp

Winter break is crucial for school-aged children, providing them with an opportunity to rest and recharge. However, not all kids may ...

The Impact of Generosity: Elder Gift Baskets

https://www.campfireak.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Elder-Mentor-Slideshow-2.mp4 In the spirit of giving and gratitude, our Camp Fire Alaska Leadership signed up each and every one of ...

Camp Fireweed

Hello Camp Fire Families, As you know, we began a name change process for Camp Si-La-Meo in January of this ...

Reflections on Our 8th Annual Women’s Retreat

Our 8th annual Wild Women Retreat at Camp K on Kenai Lake made MANY wonderful memories! Although we did not ...

Dear Camp K: A Teen Leader’s Letter to Camp

It’s not unusual to watch tears flow when our campers and staff say “Goodbye!” at the end of each session ...

Igniting Change: Camp Fire Alaska’s CEO Mel Hooper Selected as 2023-2024 WRP Policy Fellow

Camp Fire family, we’ve got some exciting news to share that will surely light up your day. Our very own ...

Building Bonds and Resilience: Inside Operation Purple® Camp

In a world where military families often face unique challenges, programs like Operation Purple® Camp are a beacon of hope ...

VOTE FOR BEST OF ALASKA 2023

VOTE FOR CAMP FIRE ALASKA FOR BEST OF ALASKA! We’re excited to be nominated for BOTH Best Summer Camp AND ...

NEW this Fall: PLC Mondays

FAQs What are the new hours of Camp Fire School Age morning programs? Monday 7am – 10am, Tuesday-Friday 7am – ...

Join Us for the Women’s Retreat!

Camp isn’t just for kids! This past July marked the return of our Annual Wild Women Retreat at Camp K ...

Hard Work Pays Off: Camp K Work Day 2023

Camp Fire Alaska’s Annual Camp K Work Day on Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing was even more exciting this year ...

Buy Merch & Support Our Inclusion Fund

We’ve been getting asked about selling seasonal merch for a long time. So this year, we decided to act! We ...

Visiting Tununak & Chefornak: Camp Fire’s Rural Alaska Program

We love trying new things at Camp Fire Alaska! That goes for all of our programs. This year, our Rural ...

5 Tips to Prepare Your Kids for Summer Camp

1. Involve your child in the planning process Allow your child to have a say in choosing the summer camp ...

Go Blue with Camp Fire: April Event Recap

On Thursday, April 20th, Camp Fire Alaska hosted a special event in recognition of Child Abuse Awareness Month. The event ...

From Online to Outside: Why Outdoor Activities Matter for Youth Development

Getting kids to put away their screen and trade it for scenery can be a challenge in today’s media-focused world ...

Camp Fire Alaska at Go Blue Day Event with Absolutely Incredible Kid Day Marshmallow with a circle of kids celebrating and engaged

Go Blue Day 2023 with Alaska Children’s Trust

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and to help raise awareness, many local organizations came together to host a Go ...

2023 Camp K Work Day – Come Volunteer!

Saturday, May 20 | 9:00 am-3:30 pm Optional Overnight Friday, May 19 Rain or shine, Camp K is a beautiful ...

AIKD 2023

Every year, millions of people write/tell a young person in their life why they matter and what makes them amazing ...

Camp Fire Alaska Spots the Aurora

One of the most magical parts about being specifically Camp Fire Alaska is all of the unique moments in nature and ...

P.S. Write Me Back

Have you ever had a pen pal? Truly, it’s the best. There’s really no better feeling or better way to ...

Pick.Click.Camp Fire

If you’ve lived in Alaska for more than a couple months, I’m sure you’ve heart of PFD. No, I’m not ...

Camp Fire Gratitude

November is known as the Month of Gratitude for many reasons. Gratitude is a muscle that we must strengthen, and ...

Disaster Relief Drive Results

Though time has passed and Typhoon Merbok is out of the headlines of the news, the impact of this devastating ...

Sasquatch Tracking with Michael Thompson

It’s officially spooky season at Camp Fire Alaska! Our Full Day Sessions last week were MONSTER THEMED and they got ...

Lights on Afterschool 2022

Lights on Afterschool this year was one for the books! We use this day to celebrate our afterschool program and ...

Orange Shirt Day 2022

National Day of Remembrance for US Indian Boarding Schools  (Orange Shirt Day) is today, September 30th! National Day of Remembrance ...

A Letter from our CEO

Dear Camp Fire Families, The leadership staff and I hope that your family has settled into a comfortable routine for ...

After School Music on the Horizon

At Camp Fire Alaska, we take the responsibility of providing high quality programing for our enrolled youth and families seriously ...

Summer 2022 Wrap Up

Summer is always a journey at Camp Fire Alaska! After countless hours of preparation and training and 10 weeks of ...

Operation Purple Camp

OP Slideshow (1) The 2022 season at Camp K kicked off with one of our favorite sessions of the summer, ...

Working Towards Racial Equity

Since 2020, Camp Fire Alaska has significantly increased our focus and resources into DEI initiatives because we recognize the importance ...

Back to School GIVEAWAY

August means…school is back! We want to celebrate Camp Fire Alaska’s Before and After School Programs being back in session ...

Meet Our Rural Staff

Our Rural Alaska Program Travel Staff are officially off in communities across Alaska facilitating programming! We thought we’d take a ...

Rural Alaska Program 2022

Our Rural Alaska Program is gearing up for yet another summer. This year, we are offering both an in person ...

Why Our Youth Want to Lead

This year, Camp Fire Alaska has an awesome new opportunity for young people: Our Leadership in Training Program at Camp ...

National Volunteer Month

April is National Volunteer Month! We want to say a big thank you to all of those who have given ...

Moving Forward Part Four: School Age Program

Adapting and revamping our jobs to meet Covid-19 guidelines in our School Age Program was a little daunting at first ...

Moving Forward Part Three: Summer Camp

Between Si-La-Meo, Camp K, and Summer Adventure Camp, a lot of our challenges in 2021 revolved around creating and monitoring ...

Moving Forward Part Two: Rural Alaska Program

In 2021, the continuation of a remote distribution model for a second summer was a huge challenge to face. Yet, ...

Get Ready for Absolutely Incredible Kid Day®

Tomorrow is a national holiday! That’s right – tomorrow is Absolutely Incredible Kid Day®! And we encourage you to jump ...

Moving Forward Part One: Introduction

As we review the many accomplishments and challenges of 2021, we get excited about the ways we can continue to ...

Looking Forward to 2022

We asked our staff what they’re looking forward to about Camp Fire Alaska in 2022… And this is what they ...

Reasons to Become a Camp Counselor

Experience Being a camp counselor gives you the opportunity to build and diversify your resume. Just think of all the ...

Things to Consider: Summer Camp Edition

Before signing your kid up for summer camp, your mind may race with questions. Good news! With registration just around ...

Best of Alaska 2021

You voted, Alaska! This year, not only did we win GOLD for Summer Camp, but we also won PLATINUM for ...

Simple Ways to Give

Did you know you can give to Camp Fire Alaska by simply shopping on Amazon or at Fred Meyer? It’s ...

Rural Alaska Timeline

  In the theme of gratitude, our Rural Alaska Program decided to look back and reflect on all the hard ...

I Am Going Outside

Two of our Camp Fire staff members Cisco and Kendalyn, as well as other Alaskan’s, shared how race and culture ...

Lights On Afterschool 2021

We spent last Thursday celebrating our Camp Fire Alaska School Age Program with a Lights On Afterschool family event. The ...

Visiting Lake Clark: Camp Fire Provides Cold Water and Boating Safety

Back in July, the Nondalton Tribal Council invited two of Camp Fire Alaska’s staff members, Rural Program Operations Director, Marnie ...

Our Earth Takes Care of Us: Our Rural Staff Shares the Importance of a Subsistence Lifestyle

Subsistence is a traditional way of living off the land that has sustained Alaskans for thousands of years. But for ...

Another Magical Summer

Summer Adventure Camp Staff jump into summer! We had such a great summer and we hope you did too! It ...

You Belong Here: Honoring Alaska Native Community Values

In June, we connected with Luz Smeenk, a Community Educator for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s (ANTHC’s) Diabetes Program ...

Striding Forward in our Rural Programming

In 2020, the Rural Program reimagined and overcame the obstacles that COVID-19 threw our way. We did not fail to ...

Summer Camp Covid Safety

Dear Camp Fire Families, Check out our updated 2021 Summer Camp (both day and overnight camp) procedures below! ...

Environmental Stewardship in 2021

We are increasing our efforts this year to establish some new ways that can bring environmentalism to the center of ...

Down to Earth—Lessons from the Outdoors

Hey Camp Fire Family! Evan here, aka Bowie, the Camp Manager at Camp K on Kenai Lake. For the month ...

Learning Pod Impact

Many students rely on public schools, not only for education access, but also for basic needs such as meals, mentorship, ...

Spring Break Camp 2021

March 11, 2021 — Spring Break Camp will have a delayed start due to icy road conditions. Anchorage programs will ...

Diversity at Camp

DEI: Doing The Right Thing

We recently interviewed a member of our leadership team, Francisco “Cisco” Mercado, about his involvement in moving forward our organization’s ...

Best of Alaska 2020

We would like to thank everyone who voted us Best Summer Camp in Anchorage Daily News’ Best of Alaska awards ...

Winter Break Camp

Register Scholarships ...

A Day at Camp Fire

Click here to check out our new video A Day at Camp Fire. Camp Fire will be extending our current ...

blue painted text reads "Meet our site staff"

Meet Our Site Staff

We love our site staff and we want to introduce them! These staff are the reason we are able to ...

Lights on Afterschool

In communities today, 19.4 million children take care of themselves after the school day ends. Afterschool programs help keep kids ...

Stronger Together

If it weren’t for our community partners, we would not be able to say that we have continued to serve ...

Rice Krispies Treat Day

Did you know that Rice Krispies Treats were first made by two Camp Fire moms? To celebrate National Rice Krispies ...

Memories of Camp Si-La-Meo

This summer was an extraordinary one. Staff and youth stepped up to the plate in amazing ways. Unlike previous years, ...

Tyson Center Youth

Connecting Kids to the World

Greeting a group of 45 kids at 7:00am is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Cisco Mercado started his day ...

Back to School Care Package

Our staff want to wish you the very best school year! Click here to see their video message! These past ...

2020 Fall Program!

Quick Facts about Fall Program: Quarter 1 Registration is weekly Cohorts will be kept together to maintain health and safety ...

Fall Program Update

August 7, 2020 Dear Camp Fire Families, Today marks the end of summer camps for us, and we are proud ...

Virtual Summer Camp Re-Cap

We wrapped up the final week of our first ever virtual camp program last Wednesday! The 6-week program flew by ...

Healthy Recipes for Families

Did you know that certain foods can boost your mood while they also help you maintain energy throughout busy days? ...

Fall Update: 2020/21 Back to School FAQS

Dear Camp Fire Families, Thank you for your understanding as we all continue to adjust and shift in response to ...

Rural Program Overcomes Obstacles

When the onset of Coronavirus in the U.S. began to change the way we lived our daily lives, the realities ...

Virtual Camp!

Camp Fire Alaska is offering virtual camp for the first time ever and it kicks off tomorrow! Join us for ...

Summer Camp is Here!

Last week was our first week of camp, and it was a blast! Campers are extremely glad to be back ...

Summer Adventure Kids

Summer Camp Update

Dear Camp Fire Families, We can’t believe it’s the last week of “school” and our Emergency Programs! We are ready ...

Provider Appreciation: Everyday Heroes Provide Frontline Support.

These past couple of months have been extremely hard on our staff for a number of reasons: not only are ...

Happy Earth Day

Earth Day Activities

Join Anne in reading “Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth.” Enjoy the fun illustrations of all of ...

Fun During Physical Distancing

Leading up to the launch of Camp Fire emergency program, leadership did a lot of work to assess the safety ...

Emergency Program Information

Fees for Camp Fire’s Emergency Program services during this COVID crisis will be waived for youth of all critical workers ...

Introducing Story Time and Activity Videos!

As we navigate this uncertain time, we are all really missing being able to spend time with our Camp Fire ...

Nicole Pate

A Story About an Absolutely Incredible Kid.

Nicole Pate is someone we have known for many years, and she remains a part of the Camp Fire Alaska ...

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day 2020

How often do we stop to tell the kids and teens in our lives how incredible they are? Camp Fire ...

NEW FOR SUMMER 2020

CAMP K: May 31 to July 30 · Challenger Trek: Bringing back our longer session with a twist · Survivor: ...

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Give a Spark

Every October, each Alaskan—big and small—receives a PFD (if they qualify and have completed their applications by the March deadline, ...

camp fire alaska

Best of Alaska

#campfireforall We are thrilled and honored to receive recognition from Anchorage Daily News as Best Summer Camp in Alaska. Most ...

Camp Fire Alaska does a Holiday Service Learning Project!

Camp Fire Staff headed out to deliver baskets to Elders! This holiday season, we partnered with RuralCAP’s Elder Mentor Program ...

It Begins with Respect

Last spring, Camp Fire’s Site Director for Government Hill left the state to pursue her dream to dance professionally in ...

10 Reasons to Choose Camp Fire Before & After School

While it’s true that we’re leaping to start our summer camp season, Camp Fire’s heart and soul is our Before ...

pick click give

Support youth and Camp Fire Alaska through Pick.Click.Give.

Making a donation through Pick.Click.Give is an easy and fun way to support your community. It is also a great ...

The Camp Fire Alaska main office operates on the ancestral land of the Dena’ina people. Camp Fire Alaska runs programing on the lands of the Athabascan, Yup’ik, Chup’ik, Sougpiaq, and Inupiaq peoples. We value and thank them for their current and historic commitment to and protection of this land. We pledge to assist, in partnership, in the environmental stewardship of these lands. We strive to learn more about the history of the Native peoples of Alaska and the historic trauma they have suffered. We commit to being an active ally through activities, actions, and organizational decisions and practices. We understand that this is a dynamic process through which our Land Acknowledgement practices, and statement will evolve as we receive feedback from tribal partners and acquire a deeper understanding of and from the Native peoples of Alaska.