Safe Summers Foundation

You can be part of the Safe Summers movement! At the Safe Summers Foundation, our vision is a future where children can experience the American tradition of summer camp, protected by consistent and transparent safety standards families can trust. 

Our Mission

We keep children safe through prevention, preparation, and protection while preserving the joy and tradition of summer camp.

Our Story

The Safe Summers Foundation was launched by a coalition of parents of the 25 campers and two counselors (“Heaven’s 27”) who lost their lives while in the care of Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, during the July 4, 2025, flash floods. Our mission is rooted in the hope that such a preventable tragedy never happens to another family.

Help Support Safety at Nonprofit Summer Camps

At the Safe Summers Foundation, passing legislation to keep kids safe at summer camps was our immediate first step. When Governor Abbott signed the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act and Youth CAMPER Act into law last September, Texas took a historic step toward making summer camps safe so the preventable loss of young lives at Camp Mystic during the July 4, 2025 floods, is never repeated.

In order to implement these reforms, we launched the Safe Summers Fund to grant financial support to qualifying nonprofit camps for life-saving safety enhancements, in adherence with new state laws and regulations.

Help us ensure Texas campers have safe summers! Together, we can fund the gaps for nonprofit summer camps across the state seeking to elevate their safety standards.

After passing the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act and Youth CAMPER Act in Texas last September, we were able to support the following with our first round of Safe Summer Fund grants:

• 14 nonprofit Texas camps funded, including Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas facilities (Camp Whispering Cedars and Camp Gambill), YMCA Camp Carter, and Lake Lavon Camp & Conference Center

• $232,000 Awarded

• 25,000+ children served and better protected across Texas

Needs

The Safe Summers Fund is just getting started! We are preparing to launch another round of grant applications for nonprofit summer camps in Texas and other states where we’ve passed camp safety reforms, so camps have the resources to implement new mandates and common-sense safety standards.

We need your help to ensure that the American tradition of summer camp continues, while avoiding preventable disasters and harm to children.

By supporting the Safe Summers Foundation on North Texas Giving Day, you can help ensure that camps across Texas (and beyond) have access to the resources and expertise they need to respond to new regulations and implement best practices to keep kids safe.

Your gift can equip camps with the following essential safety resources:

• $25 can provide materials and printing for emergency flipbooks
• $75 can provide extensive training for camp staff
• $165 can provide camps with three NOAA weather radios and backup batteries
• $500 can drive data-informed camp safety research and equip parents with resources to feel empowered
• $1,500 can help with the installation of a light pole and floodlight to illuminate a campground pathway
• $2,500 can provide a second phone line or the purchase and installation of a PA System
• $3,000 can help with the purchase and installation of 600 solar-powered LED in-ground path lights along emergency evacuation routes.