The North Carolina Bankers Association Foundation’s Camp Challenge is a week-long summer camp experience for high-achieving, low-resource students from across North Carolina. This remarkable program began in 1993.  Each year, hundreds students attend Camp Challenge at no cost to their families, thanks to donations from our many generous partners.  Camp Challenge is located at Y Camp Weaver in Greensboro, North Carolina. For more information about Camp Weaver, visit www.campweaver.org.

While at Camp, students participate in a variety of activities including archery, ropes courses, skateboarding, digital media, cooking, the BLOB, block parties, and more! Camp Challenge campers also participate in an engaging personal finance course, which includes interactive activities and discussion on topics relevant to middle school students, such as automobile purchases, entrepreneurship, income and careers, and even financing education!

Get Involved

If you would like to help out with Camp Challenge, here are a few ways you can get involved:

  • DONATE: The cost to sponsor one student to attend Camp Challenge for an entire week is $650, although truly any amount given helps tremendously. Approximately 400 applications are received from all over the state each year, and we remain hopeful that we will be able to accept as many campers as possible each year. Please consider supporting a middle school student in this experience that they otherwise wouldn’t be given the opportunity to have.
  • VOLUNTEER: Throughout the summer, we will be looking for volunteers to help teach in our engaging personal finance course at Camp Challenge. Classes last from 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. each day (Monday – Friday). Volunteers are invited to stay and eat lunch with the campers immediately after classes at 12:30 p.m., and are more than welcome to participate in any of the traditional summer camp activities during the afternoon.
  • HOLD A DONATION DRIVE: We are always looking for more classroom items that we can use during the eight weeks of Camp Challenge. The most common items we use during the week are calculators, pens, pencils, markers, and construction paper. Additionally, each summer we are faced with a number of students who show up without some of the essentials needed for the week. These items include deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, and sleeping bags. If your bank is willing to hold a donation drive to bring in any of these supplies and/or toiletries, that would be a tremendous help.

For more information on any of the ways you can support Camp Challenge, please contact Michelle Sutton at (919) 781-7979 or michelle@ncbankers.org.