Four Winds*Westward Ho Camp Receives $100,000 Grant from the William H. Gates Foundation

SEATTLE -- Four Winds*Westward Ho, a nonprofit summer resident camp on Orcas Island, Wash., recently received a $100,000 grant from the William H. Gates Foundation for the camp's scholarship endowment program. The funds will be used to allow four campers annually from the Seattle/Eastside area to attend the camp on full scholarships. Four Winds*Westward Ho serves approximately 340 campers every summer from all over the U.S. and abroad, with 20 percent on full or partial scholarships, a number that is unprecedented among private nonprofit camps in the United States.

Said Board President Carolyn Kaiser Stark, "In a perfect world, we would like all children to have the incomparable experiences offered at Four Winds*Westward Ho: sailing in Canada on a large wooden boat; living in a cabin or tent with no electricity with six other youngsters who come from different parts of the country and the world; discovering that it's okay to sing, write poetry, act, create, discovering that you can, in fact, live on your own and discover who you really are, for the first time. We believe that building this kind of self-confidence in young people is the key to our future. Thank you to the William H. Gates Foundation for helping us fulfill our mission."

Founded by Ruth A. Brown in 1927, the Four*Winds Westward Ho program has been designed to encourage cooperation in a non-competitive environment, promoting creativity and self-confidence. The camp offers experimental education in sailing, canoeing, creative arts and drama, horseback riding and land sports.