The Children’s Summer Program at Camp Linden is the major community service project of the Philadelphia Ethical Society. We partner with organizations which operate summer day camps serving school age children in low income neighborhoods. Our partners bring the same children to Camp Linden on the same day each week for a six week program of swimming and environmental education. Curriculum
Camp Linden is located along the Brandywine Creek in the rolling hills of Chester County, five miles from West Chester. Directions The 51 acre property is mostly wooded, and features three rustic buildings, a swimming pool, bath house, raised bed garden, fields, a picnic grove and a landing on the Brandywine Creek. Facilities
The property was donated to the Society in 1926 for use as a summer camp for youth from Southwark House, a settlement house serving a South Philadelphia neighborhood. When the successor to Southwark House was unable to fund needed repairs, members of the Society stepped in, rebuilt the infrastructure, and initiated the current day program. History
Camp Linden is operated by the Philadelphia Ethical Society through its Camp Linden Committee. The mission of the Camp Linden Committee, as stated in the Society by-laws, is:
(1) to provide a camp experience for inner-city children and youth that promotes appreciation of the natural world, acknowledges the intrinsic worth of all human beings, and encourages campers to develop self-reliance and integrity, and ethical relationships;
(2) to provide an opportunity for members of the Society to carry out their commitment to ethical action by supporting Camp Linden through volunteer efforts and financial contributions;
(3) to provide a place where Society members and other humanisticorganizations can hold events and retreats; and
(4) to serve as responsible stewards of the land and preserve it as a place to commune with the natural world.