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Community Involvement

Austin Sunshine Camps

The YMBL Mission to provide programs for deserving children in Austin and the surrounding areas is accomplished through The YMBL owned and operated Austin Sunshine Camps.

For over 75 years, the Austin Sunshine Camps have provided disadvantaged children with experiences to enrich and nourish their lives. In 1928, the Young Men’s Business League (YMBL) established the first summer camp in Zilker Park to bolster under-fed children’s immunity against tuberculosis with food, fun, fresh-air and sunshine.

Today, economic disadvantage, family disintegration, dropping out of school, drugs, violence, and stress impede these children’s chances to create healthy and successful lives. As the threats to Austin area youth have expanded, so have the programs of the Austin Sunshine Camps.

Each of the three programs of the Austin Sunshine Camps complements the others, while uniquely implementing the Camp’s mission. This seamless approach to service substantially increases the impact the programs have on Austin area youth.

  • Summer Camps at Zilker Park for ages 7-11
  • Summer Camps at Lake Travis for ages 12-15
  • Sunrise Leadership year-round teen leadership training
  • Sunshine Scholarships post high school education for 5th-12th graders

The Austin Sunshine Camps programs function as a funnel serving almost 2,000 youth ages 7-17 through camps. Youth who excel in these programs are invited to join in the year-round Sunrise Leadership teen tutoring and training.

At the tip of the funnel are several college and trade school scholarship programs, which have the capacity to offer a dozen scholarships per year, as incentives to stay in school and as rewards for success.

Austin Sunshine Camp programs are offered free of charge to high potential youth from low income households. All funding comes from private sources. No public funding is solicited. Over 98% of the budget is applied directly to Camp programs.

  • Over 70% of campers came from single parent or foster homes.
  • Nearly 100% are from homes with more than 2 or more siblings.
  • 81% are from households with annual incomes under $19,500 (below the poverty line). All qualified for the summer food service, which was administered at both camps.

Over the years, these programs have spread sunshine into the lives of over 43,000 deserving youth. Currently, the Austin Sunshine Camps serve about 1,000 youth annually. The Camps are volunteer-driven, depending on the energy and talents of the Young Men’s Business League (YMBL) for fundraising, facilities development, and board governance. All community volunteers are welcome. The annual budget of $300,000 is comprised of contributions from hundreds of individuals, foundations and businesses. The Austin Sunshine Camps are a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit.