At Camp Weed, we’re committed to finding the greatest, loudest, most enthusiastic, and most qualified staff members we can. We look for our staff members to have leadership experience, a passion for children, and a love for serving others.

Our Camp Director

Our camp director Allison Vining has been attending summer camp since the age of five. During her time as a camper and camp counselor, she saw many things she loved and a few things she wanted to do better. So  after graduating from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history, she headed back to Warner-Tully YMCA Camp, where she accepted the director position and jumped into the camping industry.

 Allison is committed to staying up to date with the latest in camp. She’s an active member of GoCampPro, a year-round group for camp professionals, and she loves to read articles, watch webinars, and listen to podcasts related to camp.

 During her time at Warner-Tully YMCA Camp, she attended YMCA’s annual Campfire Conference, where she won the “Brightest Idea” Award (you can ask to see her bird lamp for proof). In her spare time, Allison also blogs about camp, and her blogs have been included in industry newsletters.

 Outside of her camp life, Allison is married to Austin Vining, a graduate student studying media law at the University of Florida. The two have a dog named Peeps, who loves to run around camp. Allison enjoys reading cozy novels and checking in her sister Tori.

To contact Allison, email allison@campweed.org, call 386-364-6021, or chat us on our website!

Our Counselors

As we’ve mentioned before, our counselors are amazing college-aged students who give up their summers to invest in the lives of our campers. They come from a variety of universities, including University of Florida, Florida State University, Mississippi State University, Rhodes College, and more. In their spare time, many of them are actively involved in their on-campus ministries, and one of our counselors plays collegiate softball.

 In addition to cabin counselors, we also have senior staff members who help with specific areas of camp. For the 2018 summer, we have:

• Worship Coordinator

• Wall Coordinator

• Arts and Crafts Coordinator

• Waterfront Coordinator/Head Lifeguard

• Office Manager

• Events Director

• Activities and LIT Director

To meet our individual counselors, follow our Facebook page, where we #MeetTheStaffMonday.

Staff Training

Our staff members are required to undergo a week-long staff training, where they are certified in First Aid, CPR, and AED. Additionally, during this week they learn about homesickness, talking to campers, facilitating groups, dealing with issues, and more.

 If you’d like to know more about our staff training, we’d be happy to send you a schedule or our resources. Simply contact us, and we’ll send it your way!

Our Auxiliary Staff

While our counselors do an incredible amount of work for us, we’d be remiss to leave out our auxiliary staff members who truly make camp possible. We greatly appreciate the nurses, pastors, and youth leaders who give up time to join us during the week.

 Additionally, our camp wouldn’t be the same without our maintenance and food service staff who go out of their way to make sure our campers have a safe place to sleep and play, never have to worry about too-high grass, and always stay well-fed.

Additional Information

All of our staff members, from our director to our food service staff, undergo rigorous background checks from the Diocese of Florida before serving your camper. Our staff members are First Aid, CPR, and AED certified through the Red Cross. Many of our staff members are lifeguard certified, and our ropes course workers are certified through ACCT.

Join Our Staff

If you’re interested in joining our Camp Weed team, we suggest reaching out to our camp director to find out more. If you’re ready to apply, you can do so on CampBrain.