Camp Fire USA - Press Room - Camp Fire USA is Downtown Bound


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CAMP FIRE USA NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS SAYS "YES" TO DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2005

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Vanessa E. Adams
Communications Director
Telephone: 816 756 1950, ext. 206
E-mail: vanessa.adams@campfireusa.org

CAMP FIRE USA NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS SAYS "YES" TO DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY
American Humanics Also Making the Move

(Kansas City, Mo.) – Camp Fire USA is becoming a downtown Kansas City corporate citizen! At its National Leadership Conference in Kansas City October 28-30, the organization announced its new National Headquarters location: a large portion of the 19th floor of the Town Pavilion building at 1100 Walnut Street. The organization, which will also maintain its warehouse and fulfillment center at 31st and Mercier, will make the move in late November.

Longtime national nonprofit partner organization, American Humanics, will also make the move to the Town Pavilion location, forming a national nonprofit "campus" of sorts.

Camp Fire USA originally moved its National Headquarters to Kansas City from New York City in 1977. Courted by a number of American cities over the past several years, Camp Fire USA believes that Kansas City, Missouri, remains an ideal values match for its mission to "build caring, confident youth and future leaders." The sentiment is shared by American Humanics, which has been headquartered in Kansas City since its founding in 1948. The city's mid-continent location also results in travel efficiencies and affordable business and living costs for both organizations.

"I'm delighted that the national offices of Camp Fire USA and American Humanics have said 'yes' to the downtown central business district," says Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Kay Barnes. "The organizations will not only enjoy the benefits and excitement of the new entertainment district; they will introduce downtown to the leaders of their large national networks of professionals and volunteers."

Camp Fire USA and American Humanics will achieve substantial operating savings by occupying the more modern and technologically advanced Town Pavilion building. Those savings will be used to help advance the strategic growth plans of both organizations. Camp Fire USA's goals include reaching 1 million under-served children and youth annually by 2010. American Humanics is positioned to be the "gold standard" of nonprofit management education, graduating at least 1000 future nonprofit leaders annually by its 60th anniversary in 2008.

Camp Fire USA and American Humanics will partner in new ways to economize and better serve their networks. Examples include sharing common areas and expenses, ranging from conference rooms to printing, and using collective buying power for services such as paper and hotel rooms.

"This strategy allows us to be the most effective possible stewards of our donors' resources and trust," said Stewart Smith, Camp Fire USA's national president/CEO. "At the same time, it ensures a long-term commitment to our adoptive hometown of Kansas City. In our view, there is no better place to locate a mission-based organization such as Camp Fire USA."

American Humanics national president Kala Stroup concurs. "Kansas City is where we were founded, and it continues to be an ideal location for building the capacity of our 70 university programs and 40 nonprofit collaborating organizations. Achieving greater effectiveness with one of our partner organizations sets a strong leadership model for the university students preparing to be the next generation of nonprofit sector leader."

The downtown move is one component of a four-year drive called Children First: Camp Fire USA's Campaign for the 21st Century. To date, Camp Fire USA's Campaign has generated over $16 million in cash and essential in-kind contributions. Dozens of major donors have invested in the Campaign, including the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, the New York Life Insurance Company and MetLife Foundation in New York City, the Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis, the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington and the Hall Family Foundation in Kansas City.

Campaign contributions have been used to revitalize the organization's brand and marketing strategies and to develop all-new, research-based curricula for the 750,000 children and youth who benefit annually from the organization's after-school, summertime and family-strengthening programs. Newly raised resources and proceeds from the sale of the Camp Fire USA building at 46th and Madison will also result in significantly larger endowment funds. Some of the annual endowment earnings will fund research and evaluation and help offset operating costs at the new downtown location. Camp Fire USA hopes to generate up to $2 million in additional pledges by Spring 2006.

Jon Copaken, principal of Copaken, White and Blitt, said, "We are very excited to have Camp Fire USA, a national headquarters company, chose to relocate in the Town Pavilion in downtown Kansas City. We feel the same about American Humanics. With $3.5 billion in investment going on in and around the building, the Town Pavilion is proving once again that it is a location of choice for growing companies in the region. We are very pleased to have Camp Fire USA on board and look forward to its opening at the end of November."

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Founded nearly a century ago as "Camp Fire Girls," the contemporary, co-educational Camp Fire USA is one of the nation's largest youth-development and family-strengthening organizations. Camp Fire serves 750,000 children and youth annually in 7,000 program sites ranging from housing developments to schools, neighborhood centers to transitional housing shelters. Camp Fire works primarily with low-income, under-served children and families, providing quality after-school and summertime programs. Post-program surveys substantiate outcomes ranging from a reduced inclination to violence to a better appreciation of diversity and enhanced school readiness. For more information, visit www.campfireusa.org.

American Humanics is a national alliance of colleges, universities and nonprofits dedicated to educating, preparing and certifying the next generation of nonprofit sector leaders. American Humanics is affiliated with 70 colleges and universities nationwide and partners with 40 national nonprofit organizations. Approximately 2,400 students are currently working toward the American Humanics certificate in nonprofit management and leadership, which is achieved through coursework, professional development seminars, the American Humanics Management Institute, a rigorous internship, and other campus-specific initiatives. For more information, visit www.humanics.org.