Our full-time staff have many years experience running overnight youth camps. Three full-time administrative staff are on site 24 hours a day.  

Our staff are college aged role models who have attended at least 10 full days of staff training. Staff are screened and selected through a full interview process. Reference checks are completed on all hired staff and all staff undergo a complete background check annually. 

All of our staff are trained in First Aid, CPR, and AED. Staff in specialty activity areas including aquatics activities, horse activities, and challenge course activities undergo additional trainings and certifications and annual skill verifications.  

Camp Kitaki believes in the power of choice and self directed play.

Choice is implemented throughout our program in different age appropriate ways. For example, our younger campers may choose between three options presented at the beginning of an activity hour, while our older campers may choose activities that they will visit multiple times throughout the week.

We even end the camp week with Choose Your Own Adventure time, where campers can get choose more time at the activities they personally connect with the most!  

All meals at camp are served family style with campers sitting with their cabin group and counselors. Campers are assigned to help set up and clean up after meals by serving as "Tablehoppers" for their cabin. Special meals are served during the week including a cabin cookout, a picnic lunch, and a breakfast served at the cabin!

Meals also include announcements, challenges, and fun visits from the Host of News & Nonsense. Of course, a zany song finishes each meal!

Menu

Camp Kitaki serves a menu that appeals to the majority of kids. Meals include camp favorites like pizza, grilled cheese, spaghetti, and tacos. All meals are balanced with fruits and vegetables. We recognize that kids can be picky, so there is always an option of sandwiches (sun butter and jelly or lunch meat) if the main course doesn't appeal to your camper. In addition, a vegetarian option is served at every meal. 

If your camper has a special diet, restriction, or allergy please make sure to note that on your camp forms, and should you have questions please contact us to discus how to best meet your camper's needs. While it is common for us to have vegetarian staff and campers, some other restrictions might be more rare and require more advanced planning. Parents frequently assist in planning the menu and sending additional items they know suit their camper's needs. Our weekly menu is available upon request should you wish to plan!

Camp Kitaki's kitchen is peanut and treenut safe, we do not serve products that contain these as listed ingredients. However, despite our requests, occasionally campers or parents might bring items into camp that have these ingredients so it is important that we are made aware of any allergies your child may have.   

Cabins at Camp Kitaki are modern and include air-conditioning* to keep our campers cool. Each cabin group will consist of 10 kids, 2-3 of our college age staff and 1-2 of our Senior Kitaki Kids - high school age participants in our Job Training program.

*Campers in our Rustic Adventure Camps, Ranger, and Niobrara, stay in tents and a screened in cabin that does not have air conditioning.  

YMCA Camp Kitaki is accredited by the American Camp Association, the standard for operations of overnight camp programs.

All staff are certified in First Aid/CPR/AED

Specialized activities, including our Aquatics, Challenge Course, and Horse activities are supervised by staff with additional training and certifications.