Helping to develop our youth through nature and scholarship.
What we do
Campership
Each year, The Guardsmen sends more than 2,500 youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to outdoor programs. For many campership recipients, it is their first time in the wilderness. Post-camp, these youth show dramatic improvement in leadership, in communication skills, and in self-confidence. They form lasting bonds with friends and mentors. They come to experience their impact on the world.
Scholarship
More than 100,000 children between the ages of five and 17 live in poverty in the Bay Area, and many are under-served by local public schools. Despite dedicated family support, they are unable to break cycles of poverty, drug abuse and violence. The Guardsmen provides scholarships for over 250 students to attend private schools that give them the intense support and quality education they need.
Success Stories
DERICK B.
Living in public housing in San Francisco’s Western Addition, Derick’s single mom struggled to raise three kids on welfare. Poverty, crime and drugs were all too familiar, but the Boy’s & Girl’s Clubs’ Ernest Ingold Clubhouse gave Derick an escape from gangs…
SU’A T.
The first in his family to be born in the US, Su’a has his sights firmly set on two goals—to be the first in his family to attend college, and to play football at the collegiate level. Su’a is a star linebacker at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, but this success didn’t always translate to the classroom. He struggled to make a 2.0 GPA during his first few years…
LISSETTE
“When I was growing up, summer camp was something I saw only in the movies or on TV,” says Lissette, reflecting on growing up in the crime-stricken neighborhood of Hunters Point. Her single mom struggled to meet the family’s basic needs—experiences such as summer camp weren’t possible. That was until Lissette’s middle school physical education teacher…