....AND MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOUTH TO ATTEND THE MAINE CONSERVATION SCHOOL

Over 60% of the young people (and teachers) who attend MCS have either full or partial scholarship support.   This means we truly reach children from all walks of life and from all corners of Maine.   Each year, however, there are many parents, grandparents, relatives or guardians who cannot locate scholarship support.   Please join our family of sponsors and help young people from all over Maine share the lessons and fun of the Maine Conservation School.

Here's how.

•  The easy way ! - Call our office and ask for Joyce.   She's ready to help you and answer your questions.

•  You or your group should look at the following scholarship options and decide what works for you and your budget.

Full Support:

•  You or your organization locates campers and offers them a full scholarship. (Ask us about the many different ways sponsors locate scholarship recipients.)

•  You or your organization donates scholarship funds directly to MCS (Some donors have specific requests attached to their donation.)

Partial Support:

•  You or your organization locates campers and offers them partial scholarship. (Some sponsors ask parents to pay the MCS deposit or a portion of the program fee.)

•  You or your organization donates scholarship funds directly to MCS stipulating that the funds are to support a certain number of scholarships.

Registration and Payment Options:

•  Your organization uses and collects MCS reservation forms (adding parent deposits, if appropriate), sending all forms and all payments to us. We send confirmations, clothing lists, and directions directly to campers.

•  You give MCS registration forms to parents (write your name or your group's name on each form first) and ask parents/guardians to complete the registration process and send the form and their portion (if any) to us.   (If you are asking for a certain amount of parent contribution, just mark that on the form, so we know what balance you or your organization will be paying).   Send us the camper (or campers) names so we can track the receipt of registrations and bill you or your organization for the scholarship funds.

•  Deposits are due with the reservation.   (Either you or your group pays the deposit or parents might be asked to pay.)

•  We need to have the balance of scholarship donations here at MCS at least two weeks before camp begins.

All of our campers are asked to write a thank you letter during their week at camp and we encourage you to invite campers to meet you and club members or co-workers and share their stories.

Girls and Boys!   If you are sponsoring more than one child, we ask that you make strong efforts to make sure that the number of boys and girls are as equal as possible.   This goal supports opportunity for all our young people and allows us to create effective group dynamics.

Deposits:   Long time sponsors tell us that having parents pay the deposit usually ensures that campers and their families will follow through on the scholarship offer.   Some organizations refund the deposit after the camper returns home. (One club invites campers to dinner and refunds them after they've had a chance to talk to the group!)

Thank you for helping young people to develop confidence as they learn to travel in and take care of Maine's woods, waters, and wildlife habitats. Feel free to visit Bryant Pond anytime! We enjoy sharing experiences with sponsors.