Support Felix Neck's Kids to Camp Fund
For more than 50 years, Fern & Feather Nature Day Camp at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary has been leading the way in nature education for children on Martha's Vineyard. Generations of Islanders have attended our camp—exploring the shore and connecting with the outdoors.
Making this experience accessible to all is a core value at Felix Neck. Through our Kids to Camp Fund, we're able to offer financial assistance each year to local families who otherwise could not send their kids to camp.
Your gift to the Kids to Camp Fund will help open up the natural world to a child. You can set them on a path that begins at Fern & Feather Day Camp and leads to a lifetime of environmental stewardship at Felix Neck and beyond.
What We Do
At Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, we connect children and teens with nature. Through our Fern & Feather Day Camp, we provide learning experiences that create lasting memories and foster a lifelong appreciation of the natural world.
- We foster a love of nature and create memories to last a lifetime
- Experienced counselors guide explorations of the woods, marsh, and our salt and freshwater ponds.
- During camp, kids can see a salamander up close, splash in Sengekontacket Pond, learn to kayak, and even spend a night under the stars.
Why it Matters
Summer camp offers valuable educational experiences that contribute to a growing community that cares for and protects the unique nature of the Vineyard and beyond. Campers have opportunities for personal, cognitive, and social development including:
- Spending time outdoors
- Making friends and teambuilding
- Gaining confidence
- Learning about the environment
Just the Beginning
Fern & Feather alumni maintain that their time at our camp was meaningful. Some have pursued careers in science and attribute their interest in the field to their days in our fields—and alumni express appreciation for the time they spent here and the lifelong significance of those special summer days.
We asked Nora Papian, a Costal Waterbird Monitor at Felix Neck, about her camp experience as a child:
"Growing up in suburban Orange County, CA, access to open space and nature was limited. When I was ten years old, my mother sent me to an Audubon summer bird camp in Irvine, CA. At the camp I learned about habitats, flight, and feathers. I learned bird song and conservation. But most of all, I learned how to observe. And for all I learned, the most important part was I gained an awareness of nature."
Since my camp days, I have been working with habitat restoration and bird research. I have a passion, and I am always curious about what is happening in nature and what birds are in the area to be found. While I went into field ornithology, many of my friends from camp have chosen other careers. However, we all share an awareness of nature. We notice the changes of the seasons and the movements of birds."
"There is a connection to nature that awakens at nature camps, and regardless of a person's career, it will always be there," she added. "The experience enriches life, and is more important now than ever before."