Ways to give

Ways to donate

The simplest way to support YLCAF Endowment Fund (Endowing Our Future) is to make a gift online.
Give monthly
YES, you may make automatic monthly contributions to support our work year-round. To set up a regular monthly contribution, select the “monthly” option on our Donate page.
Send a check
Please make your check out to YOUTH LEADERSHIP CAMP ALUMNI FOUNDATION, and then mail it to us at:

Youth Leadership Camp
PO Box 3535
Frederick, MD 21705-3535

To wire your gift through a bank transfer in U.S. dollars or another currency, please contact treasurer@ylcafoundation.org. We’ll provide the information you need to give your bank or financial institution to complete the donation.
YLCAF gratefully accepts gifts in the form of stocks/appreciated securities. Please consult with your financial planner to determine the best option and contact treasurer@ylcafoundation.org for more information.
Bequests

Support Deaf youth in the United States for generations to come. It’s a magical gift that costs you nothing now, is flexible, and can often be established easily through a new will, trust, or an amendment. For more information on bequests, please contact president@ylcafoundation.org.

Fundraise
Rally YLC alumni, family, and supporters for leadership training opportunities for Deaf youth. Host a membership drive/fundraising events.
Corporate partnerships
Help us connect with potential corporate partnerships. With support from our members and corporate partners, we can continue YLC’s leadership training opportunities for deaf youth. Email president@ylcafoundation.org.

Donation FAQs

If I make a gift, how will I be recognized?

YLC Endowing Our Future fund, you contribute to our endowment that will support Deaf Youth and the camp operations.

The monetary support from the endowment will enable underrepresented and underprivileged Deaf Youth to attend Youth Leadership Camp. The endowment will also ensure the continued success of our Youth Leadership Camp, one of Deaf America’s best kept secrets!

• H.E.R.O. Club
  ($10,000 or more)

• S.H.A.R.E. Club
  ($7,500 or $9,999)

• Swan Lake Lodge Club
  ($5,000 to $7,499)

• Pine Lake Club
  ($2,500 to $4,999)

• Leadership & Discovery Club
  ($1,000 to $2,499)

• Candlelight Club
  ($500 to $999)

• Daily Drum Club
  ($250 to $499)

• Fireside Club
  ($100 to $249)

• Camp Bowl Club
  (Up to $99)

Who can give to YLCAF?

We will happily accept gifts from:

• Alumni
• Parents of Alumni
• Supporters of YLC
• Friends of Deaf Youth
• Organizations/Corporations

Contact President Marla Hatrak at president@ylcafoundation.org

How do you determine who is alumni of YLC?

Our YLC alumni include the following:
~ campers
~ staff
~ volunteers
~ guest speakers

and we have a very special place for supporters who include the following:

~ spouses and children of alumni
~ parents of alumni
~ advocates for Deaf Youth
~ organizations
~ corporations

Is YLCAF affiliated with NAD?

YLCAF is a 501(c)3 organization that supports NAD’s Youth Leadership Camp program.

I am hosting an event. Can I have a YLCAF representative come to our event?

It would be a honor for our YLCAF representative to attend your events. Please contact President Marla at president@ylcafoundation.org

Can we make a group gift?

We would like to create a competition between YLC groups where each summer group can contribute on a yearly basis. Please contact President Marla Hatrak at president@ylcafoundation.org to learn how you can start your group contribution to YLCAF starting today. You can contact any Board member for additional help.

Why become a member?

Give back to YLC for our future deaf generations.

Show our gratitude to our YLC experiences.

 

• Reconnect to your YLC past.
• Network with your YLC allies.
• Receive news about YLC’s 50th anniversary reunion in 2019.
• Learn how to support YLCAF and its goals.

Can I do a fundraising event for YLCAF?
Absolutely! There are thousands ways to raise funds for YLCAF. Roger Claussen, ’69 has been doing SuperBowl Pools each year. We had Steve McInerney, ’75 who did Wine Tasting. Mike Finneran, ’71 hosted his own Retirement Party and gave all his monetary gifts to YLCAF. Cindy O’Grady Farnady, ’75 chaired a Bocce Tournament. S. Kay Hatrak Vincent, ’69 had a fundraising campaign in honor of Marla’s 60th Birthday and their mother’s 90th birthday.

So there are many different ways to raise funds. You can bring together all alumni in your area, and host an event. Contact us for further information.

An idea is for you to contact each camper in your camp group to give a specified amount of $ and give the total amount as a group.

For example, YLC ‘69 has 42 campers and 12 staff members for a total of 54 YLC ‘69 alumni. If each of the 54 alumni give $20, we would have a total $1080 from YLC ‘69. If your group prefers to give $25, the amount would be $1350. It would be up to your group to decide amount.

You may want to ask your parents if they would like to give to a worthy cause for deaf youth. You could also contact your employer to see if they would like to help as well?

These are some of the thousand ways to raise funds for YLCAF.
What prompted Hatrak Sisters to start up the Foundation?
Back in Year 1969, all of four Hatrak sisters arrived at Pine Lake for the first-ever Youth Leadership Camp with their parents. Daphne worked as Camp Counselor/Interpreter. Linda was Camp Secretary. Kay and Marla were campers from Indiana; they joined 40 other pioneer campers for four weeks at Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The 1969 YLC schedule included calisthenics, leadership workshops, and campfires presentations by vibrant 60′s – 70′s Deaf leaders along with awe-inspiring field trips to New York City, Atlantic City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Linda spent four more summers as recreational & evening program director. Kay spent the following summer as a junior counselor. Marla was the camp secretary for six years. She was also the Daily Drum advisor. Their parents, Eugene and Beatrice, would spend their vacations to visit with their children at the camp program. Eugene helped with construction, specifically roofing and painting, while Beatrice volunteered in the kitchen and wherever help was needed. The times at YLC were very memorable and joyful for the Hatrak Family.

During the summer of 2011, Marla went to pick up her daughter from 2011 YLC. She could feel the excitement as she entered the campgrounds. The campers and staff were much younger, and she is much older. But the effect remained the same. Even though it had been 41 years since Marla and her sisters attended the 1969 program, Marla could see the indescribable impact that it had on her daughter and her peers. Marla spoke briefly at their banquet program, and in sharing her thoughts, she realized we are nine years away from celebrating our 50th anniversary. Marla has always thought YLC deserves more recognition and support from its alumni. It does not matter whether you have attended YLC either as a camper, staffer, guest speaker, or as a visitor. You came and left a changed and hopeful person.

What a special tribute it would be to establish an endowment of $1,000,000, so that, through the interest garnered from the endowment, we could support the YLC programs and needy deaf youth to attend a very special place.

Still have questions?

We’re happy to help.