we want kids across America to hear the gospel at Young Life Camp THIS summer!
Since our inception, the Luke 12:33 Foundation has supported Young Life in some capacity. We want to help leaders across the country bring kids to camp to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!
We’ll be accepting letters from Young Life Leaders anywhere in America who have a specific camper who wants to go to camp but isn’t able to pay the entire cost. Luke 12:33 Foundation will award scholarships of $400 per camper, at the discretion of our board members who review each form. Letters must be sent in by June 1. We regret that we can’t fund scholarships after this date due to the logistics of making payment arrangements.
Young Life leaders should specifically indicate in their letters the effort the student has made toward raising money for camp - in fact if specific details about fundraising efforts aren’t included, we won’t be able to consider the student for a scholarship. We prefer to fund students who have already undertaken projects, fundraising, work, family help, etc. to pay for their camp experience. In addition to (or in lieu of) a personal request letter, please fill out this form completely, so we have all the information we need to consider your request.
Letters and forms can be sent to:
Luke 12:33 Foundation
PO Box 24
Granville, Ohio 43023
NEW for Summer 2025: We’re only accepting 10 scholarship requests per area, so please coordinate your requests with your Young Life staff person.
We’d like Young Life leaders to commit to sending a follow up letter within two weeks of returning from camp.
THE PROCESS:
1. Fill out this form and send a letter to our PO Box BEFORE June 1 (or one month before your trip leaves if it’s earlier than that).
2. If accepted, we will send you a confirmation letter that we’ve made a donation in your student’s name.
3. Go to camp!
4. Send a follow up letter within two weeks of returning to camp, sharing how the trip went. This information may be posted on our website. We’d appreciate if you could include a photo from your trip!
“Thank you for your extremely generous donation for her to go to camp this summer! It laid a firm foundation for the Fall semester ahead and allowed us to start to have conversations about life and God in a place free from distractions!” - Madeline, Kenzi’s Young Life Leader
“All of these students were challenged in their walk with Christ and in their heart for ministry and are eager to potentially serve on Work Crew next summer because of their love for Young Life Camp! This trip would not have been possible without your help and we are so thankful for your partnership in the gospel.”-Ally, Piper’s Young Life Leader
“She just had so much joy radiating from her... Something was different. In talking with her, I found out that this week, Charity had come home to be at the table with God. This week she said. I was blown away. She said it was because of the girls in our cabin, how they treated her, how my co-leader teated her, how everyone at camp treated her.” — Addie, Charity’s Young Life Leader
“I truly appreciate everything you have done with donations to help me get to camp. Every moment I have spent here has brought me closer to God and helped my relationship with him flourish.” -Varrah
“Camp was so much fun! I finally accepted God’s invitation to the table!”
“Ian met the Lord this week at camp; your foundation helped change his life.” - Peter, Ian’s Young Life Leader
“I'm very excited to go home and share what I have learned with others to show them the unconditional love Jesus has for us all!” - Kendall G.
“Thank you so much for helping me come to camp. My favorite part was hanging out with friends and I learned that Jesus loves me.”
“It was an honor to watch her encounter Jesus alongside her friends! She was truly enchanted and in awe of camp and I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to take her to camp… I am so grateful for the role that this foundation has played in that! - Jocelyn, Sofia’s Young Life Leader
“Thank you for making this a possibility for him — he is so excited to be a difference maker in his friend group.” - Peter, Niko’s Young Life Leader
“Lena (on the left) loved all the games and clubs we participated in and she told me it was the best week of her summer. Near the end of the week, during our one on one time, she told me that after coming around to Young Life for a little while and hearing about God, she realized that she wanted to start a relationship with Jesus! Thank you so much for helping us!” Grace V. — Lena’s Young Life Leader
“I had drifted so far from God and knew I needed to find a way back. After Young Life camp, I found my way back. My life is forever changed for the better.” - Khloe
“Thank you for supporting my camp trip. It means a lot to me. I had the best week of my life at Saranac. I learned and grew my relationship with God and want to spread the word to everyone on the football team.” -Robbie S.
Is this legit?
This is completely legit. The Luke 12:33 Foundation is a non-profit organization funded by anonymous Christian donors committed to advancing the Gospel. This campaign does not ask for any money or personal information from anyone. We will donate money to Young Life to help individual students be able to go to Young Life, WyldLife and Capernaum camp this summer. All it takes is a personal request from a Young Life leader.
I’m worried about embarrassing or revealing personal information about the student who I want to go to camp. How can I prevent that?
The Luke 12:33 Foundation does not want to know the full name of the student or the student’s address. We simply ask the Young Life leader to use the student’s first name and first initial of their last name and describe why the leader thinks it would be important for the student to go to Young Life camp. Example:
“My name is John Smith and I lead at Anytown High School in Anytown, Texas. One of my students is Ben G. I met him at a football game when I saw he wasn’t sitting with anyone. He truly enjoys coming to Club. Ben loves the mixers and skits. He also enjoys when we play spikeball. He and his family have never been to church and they don’t have much money. Ben really wants to go to camp but hasn’t been able to raise enough money from our fundraising effort. I hope you can help him go to camp.”
Nothing in letters like this will identify or embarrass the student. The Luke 12:33 Foundation may quote from these letters on the foundation’s website but it will not use any full names (of YL leaders) without permission.
How much money is available for a scholarship?
We will donate $400 per camper whose application is approved.
How will the money be received? Does the student get the money sent to them?
We will not have the address of the student. We will not send them anything. We will make a donation directly to Young Life (national), and direct them to send the campership money to the area where the Young Life leader leads. The donation will indicate it’s for a camp scholarship (in the above example) for “Ben G. who is being led by John Smith at Anytown School in Anytown.” We expect this will be enough information for the Young Life Area Director to direct the money to the right account. To ensure that the student receives the scholarship in time to attend the camp trip, please include the dates of your area’s trip. We must receive the letter by June 1 or one month before your camp trip leaves (if it’s before June 1) in order to process the request.
What does the Foundation expect from us if a scholarship is awarded?
We only ask that, after the camp experience, either the Young Life leader or the student who attended camp, write us a personal letter describing the camp experience and how it affected the student’s walk with the Lord. Again, we do not want to know the full name of the student. We may use brief quotations from the letter on the website so people can see the positive experiences that students have at Young Life camp. The anonymous donors of the Luke 12:33 Foundation have been to Young Life camp and we know how transforming it can be. We’re excited to read about how the scholarships we fund helped students come closer to Jesus. We’d also appreciate if you’d include a photo from your camp trip along with your letter. If you can’t print a photo, you can email it to us (please don’t submit your application here, only paper applications will be considered!)
What else should we know about this?
We only want to receive personal letters from one Young Life leader about one student. We don’t want joint letters, mass-produced letters, or letters from an entire Young Life team on behalf of several students. If a Young Life leader wants to write several individual letters with each letter describing a different student in need, that would be fine. Young Life is a one-on-one, personal ministry and we expect these letters to have that same feel. Letters must be accompanied by the form linked to above.
What can we do to thank you?
Pray for us! We’re doing this as part of our own walk with the Lord and we feel led to fund YL camp scholarships. You can also help by sending the post-camp letters described above. If you want to send a camp photo and everyone in the photo is okay with the photo being posted on our website, that’s great too. But there’s no requirement for photos.
You can also help us send other students to YL camp by telling other Young Life leaders whom you know about this project. Tell them the Luke 12:33 Foundation is trying to help more kids experience Jesus at Young Life camp. We are not advertising this effort (other than creating this website) so we’re counting on Young Life folks to spread the word on their own social media platforms and through their own network of friends.
Does the Luke 12:33 Foundation have a 990 Form?
We’re not a charity. Technically, we’re a Donor Advised Fund. Unlike a charity, we don’t solicit or accept donations. This is our own money, in our own fund. We don’t employ staff or make expenditures. We simply use the money we donated into this fund to donate to other charities – like Young Life. It keeps everything anonymous. Why is that important? Go read Matthew 6:1. And while your Bible is open, you can check out why we named this the Luke 12:33 Foundation.
A few key reminders:
The leader writing the letter should provide a return address for the leader and the name of the high school where the potential camper attends and the name of the Young Life area. This is to ensure the donation is properly credited.
Please discuss in detail the things the potential camper has been doing to raise money for Young Life camp. Short, vague letters are less helpful to us.
Tell us about the unique factors in the potential camper’s life and/or faith journey that would be positively impacted by going to Young Life camp.
I have another question!
That’s fine. You can use the web form below to ask your question. We do not accept requests for scholarships through the web form. We will only consider personal letters written to our PO Box 24 Granville, Ohio 43023.