Since our very first teen girls camp in the summer of 2001, MSG has learned the importance of community. We were blessed to receive a grant from the University of Hawaii that sent us 6 teen girls in a youth leadership program called “Kuina”. With those scholarship recipients, we almost filled our first teen camp and were officially in business! Ever since then, we have worked with other non profits like the Boys and Girls Club, to provide financial aid to deserving girls from Maui and beyond. This year the Will Smith Foundation gifted two full tuitions for teen girls. Big mahalo to Executive Director Susan Moulton for her generous gift.
Another big shout out to our Women’s camp chef Sue Johnson, who donated her wages for a third teen girl scholarship!
Just last weekend Dustin and four of our instructors volunteered at Andrea’s Mollers event “Hoolana” to help children with developmental challenges get on the water with stand up paddle boards, kayaks, jet ski rides, and outrigger canoe rides.
We are also partnered up the summer with the Surfrider Foundation to do a beach clean up with our teen girl camps in July. We will be helping clean the coastline near our surf camp in Olowalu.
Lastly, our MSG staff has recently donated their time and footage to our new teen camp staff member, Julia Hengst’s Kickstarter project to launch her incredible kids book series called “Venus and her Fly Trip.” Julia is a licensed MFT, and has been counseling and mentoring teenagers for two decades. She will be facilitating a workshop on anxiety at Pono camp with alumni camper Nicole Nakamura, who is now an art therapist. Dustin edited the kickstarter video promo that features her and surf instructor Carole as mermaids. Van driver Kristi Chan did the stop motion animation, and Sharky provided some excellent shark and turtle gopro footage for the promo. We hope that our community can donate to this incredible kids book series that aims to prevent self-hatred in kids. Check out staff members, Julia’s kickstarter here and follow her @venusandherflytrip.
\