Nature Camp has announced that the Tess Majors Foundation has pledged to fund 10 full camp scholarships annually for the next five years intended primarily for prospective campers from the counties of Albemarle, Augusta, Rockbridge, and Rockingham and the cities of Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, and Waynesboro.
These scholarships will provide a two-week, overnight camping experience in the George Washington National Forest near Vesuvius.
Since 1942 Nature Camp has striven to foster environmental stewardship and to inspire a deep and abiding love of nature through placed-based, experiential education in natural history and related subjects.
Once described as a place “where fingertips are taught to see,” Nature Camp offers youth in grades 5-12 the opportunity to explore the natural world, to discover the joy of learning with peers with similar interests, and to participate in outdoor recreation in a nurturing, sheltered environment. For more information about the program, facilities, and history of Nature Camp, visit www.naturecamp.net.
The Tess Majors Foundation supports and partners with organizations that provide young people instruction in music, nature, and the arts, especially in regions of the country where such opportunities may be lacking and programs can have a significant impact.
In addition to Nature Camp, other projects supported by the foundation include the Music Resource Center in Charlottesville, the Youth Leaders Agriculture program of Project GROWS in Augusta County, and the Launch Pad Teen Center in Prescott, Arizona.
Information about the Tess Majors Foundation and a donation platform are available at www.tessmajorsfoundation. com.
“Although Nature Camp’s sessions are nearly full for the summer of 2026,” said Executive Director Philip Coulling, “this gift will provide opportunities for new and returning campers at least through the end of this decade. We are immensely humbled by this support and grateful to the Tess Majors Foundation for eliminating financial barriers to a meaningful and transformative camp experience for young people from the region around Nature Camp.”
