Scripture Union New Zealand southern camps facilitator Jayden Meads said the community support this year had been "awesome".
The youth camp held at the Hāwea Domain is one of many across the country led by Scripture Union, a non-profit charitable organisation that holds a range of camps throughout the year, where youth take part in skiing, hiking and water sports.
The Aspire camp at Hāwea caters to children in years 7 to 10 at school and caps their numbers around 30; this year, the camp hosted 12 children from across the South Island on the four-day camp.
In previous years, Hāwea Flat School groundsman Doug Brenssell would offer his services to the youth camp, making sure the children were happy and supported with equipment.
However, he had recently left the Upper Clutha community.
"This is the first year we have had to be really self-sufficient," Mr Meads said.
"[Mr Brenssell] would just come down here and ‘say what do you need?’
"He would supply barbecues, church pews, anything we needed," he said.
In his absence, this year the camp turned to local Facebook pages asking the community for goods and services to aid the camp in their operations.
And the response was appreciated.
"The community has been awesome, the board love having us here and they want to make it work.
"We use the community centre for meals, we have someone come pick up our food scraps and an old connection helping with the boats," he said.
Camps run by Scripture Union taught the children a large range of skills, Mr Meads said.
"Leave no trace, outdoor sports and how to get along with the strangers they met at camp are all big teaching lessons for the kids.
"It is a lot of work but the connections you build, especially with young adults, are just epic — lifelong," he said.
Mr Brenssell was awarded a King’s Service Medal at New Year’s in recognition of his services to the community over the last 25 years.
