A History of Changing Lives
For over 80 years, Sherwood Forest has been giving kids a ‘home away from home.’
1937 – With a volunteer staff and only $2,000 for food and cooks, Sherwood Forest first provided a residential summer camp experience for 600 youth from underprivileged backgrounds. Operating on a rented site at Cuivre River State Park in Troy, Missouri, Sherwood Forest gave children opportunities like nothing they’d ever experienced.
1942 – The Leadership Training Program was developed to help prepare high school freshman to transition from being campers to becoming staff members through community service, hand-on lessons, and year-round meetings.
1948 – 54 Saint Louis Public School students participated in Sherwood Forest’s school camp program – the first program of its kind in St. Louis.
1954 – Sherwood Forest began racial integration and inclusion of children with disabilities.
1976 – The “Continued Contact” program began to offer year-round activities for all campers throughout the school year.
1978 – Sherwood Forest purchased 478 acres of Ozark forest land from Wiggins Ozark Camp, just outside of Lesterville, Missouri. This land has become the place that today’s campers often call their “second home.”
2016 – The Supports for Success program is launched to help better prepare the youth who participate in our programs for postsecondary success.
2018 – The Way More Than Camp Capital Campaign closes, raising more than $7.2million in improvements for the campsite in Lesterville, Missouri.
