You're invited to join our SUMMER FELLOWSHIP to experience spiritual family, live out an adventure, and fulfill a mission to save our youth that are lonely, bored, and lost.
The Summer Fellowship is made up of Catholic young adults ages 18-25 that dedicate a part of their summer at Camp River Ridge as adult counselor staff for the evangelization of their younger campers.
As summer staff in the fellowship, you will:
As summer staff in the fellowship, you will:
- Experience the power of friendship with Christ and the transformative grace of the Holy Spirit through a program of prayer, sacraments, talks, team life, feedback, and spiritual guidance from our priest chaplains,
- Live as an essential part of a team of summer staff and a be a part of our camp family,
- Make a difference in the lives of younger campers, and make new friends who will remember and cherish you,
- Play a decisive role in awesome summer camps, campouts, retreats, and so many activities,
- Work a demanding schedule that will move you to grow as a person and develop good habits of work and service,
- grow in maturity, forge your character, and make memories that you won't forget,
- prop up your resume, and take back home work experience, recommendations, and new connections,
- and even receive some stipends to take help you with college expenses!
Check it out...scroll down!
Summer Staff Positions...
All members of the fellowship will do the following:
- Participate in a training session so as to learn their role well.
- Fulfill a specific role at camp that changes every week.
- Act as peer mentors and take on anywhere from 1 to 4 high school camp missionaries as part of your team during a summer camp.
- Fully participate in camp prayer and sacraments.
- Meet regularly with the Camp Director during camp sessions.
- Be a part of a team and be available to help other fellow staff members when needed.
- Put on costumes and take up small or large acting roles during the reenactments.
- Participate in periodic group feedback.
- Help with work projects to improve or clean up camp.
- Have the chance to learn First Aid and Lifeguarding.
Each week we rotate the positions so every member of the summer fellowship is challenged and learns new skills.
These are the various positions available for the 9 young men and 9 young women needed:
- Group Directors or "Emcee" (2 staff members desired: 1 male, 1 female) - Helps to direct the overall camp schedule, ice breakers, points competition or virtue campaign, the dining room at meals, evening bonfire activities, and ending awards ceremony.
- Activity Directors (4 staff members: 2 male, 2 female) - Directs the morning skill-building stations, the lake activities, the various camp evening games, and assists with the evening bonfire activities.
- Theme Directors (4 staff members: 2 male, 2 female) - Directs the adventure theme with reenactments, theme-related stations, and acting.
- Formation Directors (2 staff members: 1 male, 1 female) - Directs the morning prayers, prepares for Mass and adoration, runs various dynamics for adoration, helps with Gospel reflections and night prayer, and organizes processions.
- Media Director (2 staff members: 1 male, 1 female) - Takes pictures and film. Makes short video recaps or video testimonies. Posts on social media like Facebook and Instagram. Tells about our family, adventure, and mission via photography and videos!
- Service Directors (2 staff members: 1 male, 1 female) - Helps with lawn care, takes care of maintenance, keeps the camp facilities clean and organized, helps with kitchen service, challenges campers to keep their dorms clean and organized, and prepares the bonfire and helps serve and clean up the s'mores.
- Support Staff (2 staff members: 1 male, 1 female) - These staff members are the primary lifeguards for all lake activities. They are also in charge of the infirmary and the general health of the campers, checking up on their well-being, taking care of homesickness, working with parents in case of sickness, and doctors' or emergency room visits. They come up with surprise initiatives to make a camper's life fun and welcoming!
Members of the summer fellowship are also encouraged to obtain First Aid and Lifeguarding Certification, and this is reimbursable.
**To APPLY, simply EMAIL Camp River Ridge at campriverridge@gmail.com OR TEXT at 513-497-1212.
Summer Dates 2022
CLICK HERE to see the camp's summer calendar and the specific Summer Fellowship arrival and departure date.
Young Women:
(choose one or both)
Young Men:
(choose one, two, or all three)
(choose one or both)
- Session 1: Training, Father-Daughter campout, and a fun staff day off.
- Session 2: Training, Mother-Daughter Campout, Girls' Summer Camp Hero, High School Girls Soul on Fire, the RC Family Picnic, and a fun staff day off.
Young Men:
(choose one, two, or all three)
- Session 1a: Training, Father-Son Campout 1, Boys' Summer Camp Frontier, Mother-Son Campout
- Session 1b: Father-Son Campout 2, Boys' Summer Camp Hero, and a fun staff day off.
- Session 2: Training, Father-Son Campout 3, Boys' Summer Camp Quo Vadis, and Boys' Soul on Fire.
Build the New Man/Woman in Christ
This camp is not about work... but about YOU! We want to put our summer fellows at the center of our experience as our main audience, and give you the opportunity to GROW and SHINE making a real difference in the world!
The summer fellowship program is not just an opportunity for you to be an apostle for the summer, but also to grow as a person. You need a spiritual family to inspire you and lift you up, an adventure to wake you up from the boredom and dreariness of the world, and a mission to develop the habit of prayer and discipline that will last past the summertime.
To foster this growth in the spiritual life, you will be immersed in a spiritual environment where God's presence is felt daily. You will have morning and night prayers, daily Mass and adoration, as well as a directed prayer based on the Scriptures, Gospel reflections, prayers before and after meals, talks and catechesis on pertinent themes, and a daily decade of the rosary (if not the whole rosary). You will do an occasional Encounter with Christ (Gospel reflection and reflection on a pertinent theme) and an occasional “Highs and Lows” (a team feedback session on high points and ways each person can improve).
We want to help you spend these two months building a New Man or New Woman in Christ. You will be challenged to keep a schedule, maintain order in your stuff and in your work, get along with all kinds of people, keep discipline in the use of your phone, take care of your sleep and diet, and more... all to help you be a healthy and wholesome young adult!
You will also be able to make friends with the priest chaplains and seminarians and spend quality time with them! Spiritual direction and the sacrament of confession will also be readily available to you and encouraged. You will have the chance to enjoy the guilt-free state of grace for up to two months.
What in the world are you waiting for?!?!
To foster this growth in the spiritual life, you will be immersed in a spiritual environment where God's presence is felt daily. You will have morning and night prayers, daily Mass and adoration, as well as a directed prayer based on the Scriptures, Gospel reflections, prayers before and after meals, talks and catechesis on pertinent themes, and a daily decade of the rosary (if not the whole rosary). You will do an occasional Encounter with Christ (Gospel reflection and reflection on a pertinent theme) and an occasional “Highs and Lows” (a team feedback session on high points and ways each person can improve).
We want to help you spend these two months building a New Man or New Woman in Christ. You will be challenged to keep a schedule, maintain order in your stuff and in your work, get along with all kinds of people, keep discipline in the use of your phone, take care of your sleep and diet, and more... all to help you be a healthy and wholesome young adult!
You will also be able to make friends with the priest chaplains and seminarians and spend quality time with them! Spiritual direction and the sacrament of confession will also be readily available to you and encouraged. You will have the chance to enjoy the guilt-free state of grace for up to two months.
What in the world are you waiting for?!?!
And if you don't enjoy it... you're doing it wrong!
The goal of our summer fellowship is to at all times be an apostle to the campers and peers.
But that doesn't mean you don't enjoy your summer!
Check it out:
But that doesn't mean you don't enjoy your summer!
Check it out:
- Having a good time and sharing deep conversations with new friends your age that share your interests,
- Outings for horseback riding, canoeing,
- Water activities like swimming, slip 'n slide, war mattress, fishing, or just floating lazily in the water,
- Shooting games like archery tag, regular archery, and laser tag,
- Gym and field games like dodgeball, capture the flag, soccer/basketball, and other field/gym sports,
- Putting on costumes and acting in the historical reenactments (includes battles), firing cannons,
- Hanging out by the hammock circle in the shade,
- Enjoying good music, crazy dancing, and s'mores by the bonfire at night,
- Shooting off fireworks in ways you will never do so again,
- Staff off days to enjoy good company in wholesome ways,
- GREAT FOOD (really great, we're not kidding you, we take food seriously at camp),
- and whatever other shenanigans you do in your free time...
Other Pertinent Info
- The upcoming summer calendar: Camp Calendar.
- Ideas on what to bring: What to Bring List.
- Photos or videos of what camp is like: Photo Tour or Video Tour.
- Click here for directions: Directions to Camp.
- Camp social media: Camp Facebook, Camp YouTube, Camp Instagram.
Stipends and Fundraising
Fundraising Expenses-for-Stipend Program:
Summer staff are encouraged to fundraise for their camp expenses while at camp: lodging, meals, insurance, transportation, outings, shirts, first aid and lifeguard training, etc. The camp has already allocated funds for summer staff expenses. So if they can fundraise to pay those off, the camp can reallocate these funds to offer that staff member a stipend equivalent to 90% of their total fundraising.
Young Men:
To fundraise, they may reach out to their parishes, Catholic organizations, family and friends, to ask for donations to help fund the summer camps. As part of the application process, applicants will receive a letter they can hand or email to their parish priest, parish leaders, family and friends.
Summer Staff are welcome to volunteer for free or to donate their stipend back to camp.
Sample Fundraising Letter:
Summer staff are encouraged to fundraise for their camp expenses while at camp: lodging, meals, insurance, transportation, outings, shirts, first aid and lifeguard training, etc. The camp has already allocated funds for summer staff expenses. So if they can fundraise to pay those off, the camp can reallocate these funds to offer that staff member a stipend equivalent to 90% of their total fundraising.
Young Men:
- Session 1: Fundraise up to $2,000, and receive $1,800.
- Session 2: Fundraise up to $1,000, and receive $900.
- Session 1: Fundraise up to $500, and receive $450.
- Session 2: Fundraise up to $1,000 and receive $900.
To fundraise, they may reach out to their parishes, Catholic organizations, family and friends, to ask for donations to help fund the summer camps. As part of the application process, applicants will receive a letter they can hand or email to their parish priest, parish leaders, family and friends.
Summer Staff are welcome to volunteer for free or to donate their stipend back to camp.
Sample Fundraising Letter:
| Sample Fundraising Letter |
Application Process
Please contact us by March 1st. Afterwards, we cannot guarantee a spot.
- Email or Text:
- Email Camp River Ridge at campriverridge@gmail.com.
- OR, text at 513-497-1212.
- Interview: The Camp Director will meet the applicant by Zoom or in person.
- Safe Environment Training Pending Approval: The applicant then needs to fulfill the camp’s safe and sacred training by following the instructions at www.campriverridge.org/chaperones.
- Enrollment: Create your camp account, log in, and create yourself as a camper. Sign yourself up as the "parent" and also the "camper". Then enroll yourself in the correct summer staff session. Log in or create your account here.
- Contract: The applicant will be accepted once the training and background checks are cleared. If the applicant is applying for the full-time position or for more than one session, they will receive an independent contractor contract to sign and return, and a W9 form to fill out before the summer.
- Stipend: The applicant will receive some materials to help with fundraising.
Questions?
If you have any questions whatsoever about the Mission Staff program, please contact us at campriverridge@gmail.com. Thank you!