Financial Aid
Wayfinder Adventures believes that camp should be accessible to everyone. As such, we maintain a scholarship program called the Hero Fund
The Hero Fund: A Financial Aid Program
This program seeks to expand access to community spaces and programming regardless of financial status. Making our programming more financially accessible is important to us as an organization, and so we endeavor to grant as many Hero Fund requests as we can. These funds are intended for those community members most in need. Given the number of campers who apply for Hero Fund grants and the level of donation we receive, we cannot provide more than 50% of the cost of camp through the Hero Fund. Please consider if a payment plan might be a better fit for you or could be used in combination when requesting Hero Fund assistance (inquiries about payment plans and work exchange can be made via Info@WayfinderAdventures.org).
While Wayfinder is annually the largest individual donor, Wayfinder staff and community members make up the bulk of the donors to the Hero Fund. The help and commitment to the work that we do is something that we are endlessly grateful for. Please consider donating and know that donations have made transformative experiences available to kids going back over a decade. To learn more about donating, visit our Donate page.
Requesting Aid
The amount of aid we can give out is variable depending on the current balance of the Hero Fund. We endeavor to spend the full balance of the Hero Fund every summer.
The process for requesting scholarships is as follows:
- Register online for the camp you’d like to attend and select to pay by check. Register here.
- Write an email with information that tells us how much of the camp price you are able to afford and how much aid you would need. Please remember we are able to accept installment payments throughout the summer, and in some cases, during the off-season. Send your email to info@wayfinderadventures.org. We will contact you for any additional information we may need.
- Once we have a better idea of camp enrollment, we will let you know how much aid we can give. If our offer works for you, you will be enrolled. If it does not meet your needs, you may un-enroll with no penalty.
For the 2026 Summer Season, the due date for scholarship applications was May 1st. The first round of decisions was made by June 1st. Applicants submitting after May 1st will be considered in a second round decisions which will be made by June 21.
Please stay tuned for announcements about 2027 application deadlines.
Hero Fund money is first come first serve. Once the collected donations are given out, that is all we can provide for that given season.