In summer 2025, Big Lake Youth Camp was declared the recipient of an award from American Camp Association, thanks to their hospitality to hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail.
“The Cedar Award for Program Excellence is given to camps that are making an impact in their community and dealing with a felt need,” shared Les Zollbrecht, Big Lake director. “We normally serve between 700 and 1,000 hikers each summer, providing laundry, postal services, meals, electricity for charging devices and offsite camping spaces. We often get comments that Big Lake was the highlight of the trail for people — the most welcoming space they encountered. So we were pretty excited to be recognized for that.”
The award wasn’t the only good news Big Lake received in late 2025. The camp also received a $3,500 STEAM grant to help support their robotics camp activities, as well as a generous expansion to their newly updated backup generator system. “This is a game changer for sure,” said Zollbrecht. “We will now have backup power not just for the lodge and kitchen, but for headquarters and the rest of camp as well. That’s something we’ve never had.”
This year, Big Lake is looking toward this summer's camp season. Zollbrecht says that one of the biggest needs is financial aid assistance for campers. “We were able to grant more than $80,000 worth of aid for campers in 2025! As we look forward, a big way to make a difference is to support those campership funds," said Zollbrecht.
Learn more about Big Lake and its ministry at biglake.org.
