History

Through the vision of private camp directors from the American Camp Association's New York Section (ACA-NY), SCOPE was founded in 1991 as a signature program to raise funds to provide all children, regardless of their socio-economic background, with same educational and developmental benefits of camp derived by their more affluent counterparts. Through grassroots fundraising efforts, 26 children were provided with SCOPE cameprships in 1992. Since that time, more than 15,000 children have attended camp through SCOPE funding.

In 2005, SCOPE was established as a 501c3 charitable organization in order to expand its fundraising capacity. Allocations of summer camp scholarships that help children in need have increased by more than fifty percent since that time.

In 2007, SCOPE embarked on a national expansion initiative to enable regions throughout the U.S. to launch campership programs. In partnership with camp directors and supporters from the Chicago area, SCOPE Midwest was established as the first affiliate. SCOPE administers the program and allocations to Midwest camps. Through local fundraising events, individual gifts, and foundation and corporate support, SCOPE Midwest has enabled hundreds of children in Chicago and other Midwest cities to derive the benefits of summer camp.

SCOPE Southeast was established in 2011. SCOPE administers the program and allocations to Southeast camps. Through local fundraising events, individual gifts, and foundation and corporate support, SCOPE Southeast will begin to provide enriching summer camp experiences to children in the Southeast in the summer of 2012.

SCOPE continues to seek ways to expand the program to other regions throughout the United States. Affiliates receive administrative and fundraising resources through SCOPE in order to provide camp experiences to children in their region.

SCOPE has gained recognition for its work with children and camps and in 2003, was the recipient of the American Camping Foundation's prestigious Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence, presented at the American Camp Association's National Conference in San Francisco, California.