Breakthrough Butler taking on two summer programs
Staff members of Breakthrough Butler have their hands full this summer.
The nonprofit organization’s annual summer camp, Camp Breakthrough, kicked off Monday, June 10. More than 110 children signed up to participate this season.
Breakthrough Butler’s founder, Nick Yannotty, said the planning behind the summer initiatives was the hard part, but standing on the basketball court on East Jefferson Street where he oversaw more than a hundred children and 17 staff members made it all worth while.
“Right now we have right around 110 campers,” Yannotty said. “We probably have I want to say 85 full-time kids which are here for the 11 weeks, which is a huge increase from last year.”
Camp Breakthrough runs 11 weeks this summer, and is for children in kindergarten through seventh grade. It is open from 6:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The summer parks program is also active throughout the summer, and Yannotty’s staff is rotating through Father Marinaro Park, Rotary Park, Christie Avenue Playground and Butler Memorial Park to provide free food and fun to children.
Izzy Kriess, coordinator of the summer parks program, said the first two distributions, which took place Monday and Tuesday, went well, but she expects more children than the handful who came those days will attend the sessions in the future.
“I really enjoy it, I like being able to help the kids out,” Kriess said. “The kids who sign up are truly grateful for the food that they get. I love gift giving but I love it so much more when they appreciate it.”
The first week of Camp Breakthrough is the ice breaker week, Yannotty said, where camp leaders provided activities for the children to get to know each other. However, Yannotty said many of the children at the camp this year attended last year, or even the year before.
Caleb Carter, 10, said he enjoys his time at Camp Breakthrough.
“I started last year,” Caleb said. “I have a lot of friends here; my favorite trip was probably Altitude.”
This story was updated at 1:35 p.m., June 13, 2024 to reflect that the child in the photos No. 3 and No. 4 is named Colton Shuler. A previous version of this story incorrectly said he was named Colton Slever.
