To kick off our 2025 blog posts, we invited Lorne McGowan to share about his family’s experience at Camp Mini-Yo-We. Lorne is a dedicated volunteer head cook and also the father of Glendon and Hannah. They have served as summer staff members and volunteers—and now Glendon is on our year-round team!
Summers That Will Last
“What are you thinking of doing this summer?” was the question asked of my twins early in 2015 by their grandmother. “Why don’t you apply to summer camps and see what opportunities would be there?” This simple question has launched our family into a much bigger family, that of Camp Mini-Yo-We! From that first summer, the full-time staff and summer staff were there at every moment, impacting our family through the lives of our twins Hannah and Glendon. The growth we saw in them as parents made us proud of the decision they made to go back summer after summer, and even eventually working on Spring Crew for a couple of years. These were very formative years for them, and the friendships they forged during their summers there I know will last a lifetime.
How can you ask for a better venue than spending the summer in Muskoka with like-minded individuals and growing your faith?
Better Than Burgers
Over the summers my twins worked at Mini-Yo-We, I often thought of a video posted by Rich Birch stating why working at Camp was better than flipping burgers (at a fast food restaurant) for the summer. Serving at Camp is being part of an organization that has been transforming young people’s lives for almost 80 summers! As a parent, what more can we ask for during their summer and off time, than that they are growing in their relationship with God and stretching themselves to become better people who make up the leaders of tomorrow?
Making You Feel a Part of the Community
For a few summers, the twins would come home after their amazing time and say, “You should really think about cooking, they need volunteers.” So that next summer, I made the leap and volunteered, not knowing what to expect. But I ended up having an amazing experience in Discovery Camp with head cook Kellianne and realizing that volunteering in the kitchen was one of the best decisions I could have made for my free time! I came to realize how MYW could also be an encouragement to me. I love to cook but to see the delight in those young camper’s faces each mealtime that I was a part of cooking and serving to them, was the greatest encouragement to me.
Returning Every Year
The next summer, my kitchen experience was kicked up a notch since there is nothing like cooking in Girls Camp! I could never in my wildest dreams have imagined the sight (and sound) of 200 chatty and animated girls in Girls Camp Lodge excited for the dinner to be served. It is a sight to behold, and let me say that there is no one more ravenous than Girls Camp campers on spaghetti night eating white roll after white roll. We had 500 rolls to start, and I thought there was no way that they would consume that many, but boy was I wrong! I honestly think they came to get their table’s first serving, dumped the bowl and came back for more rolls almost immediately. A word of advice, if you ever want to feel good about how you are serving at camp, cook in Girls Camp, as the enthusiasm and genuine appreciation for what you are doing is overwhelming.
The Little Things Mean so Much
I am so thankful that my mother’s kind words in 2015 set off a chain of events that have changed not only both of my twins’ lives, but also mine in teaching me how to be servant hearted as well as giving back. Finally, I have also come to understand that many hands do indeed make light work; if you have a willing heart and a little time to give, whether that is a week in the summer or a day on the weekend, I would encourage you to pray about filling a volunteer spot at camp. There is always an opportunity to serve—in the kitchen, on maintenance, or being a weekend helper—no matter what your skill set is there is a place for you!
Join the McGowans at MYW this Summer!
If you’re interested in serving at Mini-Yo-We this summer, we have a spot for you! For details about volunteering, check out our Adult Volunteers page. You could even cook with Lorne during staff training (June 29-July 5)! We are also hiring summer staff. Visit our Summer Staff page for more info and the online application.