Camp Fire Heart of California | Light the fire within

About Us

Camp Fire Heart of California has been an innovative leader in youth development for 100 years.

We have a rich legacy! You might remember us as Camp Fire Girls or Camp Fire USA, which were key parts of our organizational journey. What’s kept us thriving? Our commitment to diversity and inclusion from the very beginning; incorporating youth voice into all we do; our intentional effort to reflect, evolve, and use cutting-edge research to best meet the needs of today’s families; and remarkable people like you!

Read about our council's history
Meet our Team & Staff

THRIVE{OLOGY}

Our Proven Path to Youth Success

Discover sparks, gain self-confidence, and learn life-changing life skills to thrive now! Thrive{ology} is our research-based program framework founded on the pillars of Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and it works:

01.   02.   03.   04.
Identify your sparks
Develop a growth mindset
Learn goal management
Time to reflect
Sparks are the things that make you come alive! What excites you, gives you energy, motivation, and purpose? It can be an activity (basketball) or a cause (social justice). Learn to push past obstacles, take risks, believe you can learn a new skill at any time, and don’t give up. Kids and adults with a growth mindset are more successful in life. Decide what you want to strive for and determine how to get there. Learn to adjust your plan if needed or what kind of support and accountability you want. Find your “aha moments,” whether it’s learning from a mistake or failure, realizing why you were successful, what you like or don’t like, what you want, what you’re proud of…

 

 

 

WE’RE ALL ABOUT THE NOW

Most youth organizations talk about preparing kids for the future or future leadership positions. This is great, but we believe kids and teens are leaders now. They don’t need to wait for the future to shape the world.

We help youth be the best 7-year-old they can be, or the best 17-year-old. We guide kids and teens of all ages to boost their confidence and unlock their potential so they can thrive—where they are now.

Thrive{ology} is our research-based approach to teaching every kid or teen how to be a better friend, student, son, daughter, member of society, sister, brother…today.

Every Camp Fire program across the country uses Thrive{ology} to teach youth to identify sparks, develop a growth mindset, learn goal management, and take time to reflect.

As they learn these life-changing life skills, kids and teens are also more likely to:

  • Have a sense of purpose
  • Achieve their full potential
  • Demonstrate social competence
  • Lead a healthy lifestyle
  • Be environmentally conscious
  • Stay in school

 

Our Promise

Young people want to shape the world.

Camp Fire provides the opportunity to find their spark, lift their voice, and discover who they are.

In Camp Fire, it begins now.

Light the fire within