The final two days of session 1 ended off with super fun special days! On day 8, campers participated in water day in which they navigated through a variety of water day stations. Water day concluded with a giant water fight involving campers, sevadars, and teachers! The last day of camp started with Sports Day, where campers took part in an assortment of sports & games. Afterwards, campers watched an inspirational movie about Bhai Taru Singh Jee! At the end of the day, campers got the chance to say goodbye to Babbu lion!

On day 5 of camp, campers delved into the inspiring story of Bhai Suthrey Shah during Sakhi time and completed their Anandpur Sahib Projects during Sikh activities. Campers were very excited to learn a new Shastar today, the marathi! During snack time, campers got to enjoy fresh, local blueberries!

On day 3 of camp, our campers heard Sakhis about Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Jee and worked on their ‘Anandpur Sahib’ projects. Campers also participated in the first slushy walk of the session and enjoyed a picnic lunch outdoors!

This past Saturday, over 50 youth Sevadars joined together in a volunteer orientation. This 6-hour-long orientation helped Sevadars familiarize themselves with the Seva that they will be doing during Summer Camp Session 1! These Sevadars are assigned to one of four classes where they will support the teacher and campers in their activities. Additionally, Sevadars learned how to serve Langar appropriately as this may be many young Sevdars’ first time doing this Seva. We are so excited to have such a large team! 

Our summer team spent 2 weeks prepping for summer camp. The weeks consisted of several team orientations, physical setup, Sevadar orientation planning & curriculum planning for all age groups. ☀️ 

The Awards Ceremony was only possible because of all the dedicated Sevadars that helped with the event! Over 50 youth and adult Sevadars helped put this event together for all the Sangat to enjoy. May Maharaj ji bless them for the countless hours they put into their Seva 🙏🏽

At the end of the Awards Ceremony, everyone eagerly gathered together for the prize draws! There were a variety of prizes for all age groups, even parents! The grand prizes for this year were a swing set, trampoline and drone! Babbu Lion also made a special appearance to help draw prizes and take pictures with the Sangat.

After the awards recognition in Darbar, Sangat had lots of fun outdoors! Langar included pizza, cold drinks, frozen treats, cotton candy and popcorn and Sangat had the chance to take some memorable pictures with their friends and families at the photobooth. To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Gurmat Center, there was a special edition of bouncy castles and inflatables for everyone to enjoy! 

Throughout the year, many Sevadars came together to help with various Sevas at Gurmat Center. The teachers that were part of Gurmat Center's staff team this year, taught Punjabi, Santhia, Sikh Studies, Kirtan & Gatka throughout the week. A new addition to our team of teachers were the Dastar Tying teachers who helped teach children how to tie their own dastars. Gurmat Center is so blessed to have dedicated Sevadar teachers who come out to teach on a weekly basis!

The Level 6 Part 2 Students were all recognized with saropay for completing Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Santhia. Most of these students have spent the last 7 years at Gurmat Center learning Gurmat vidhya in areas of Gurmukhi, Nitnem Santhia, Sikh Studies & Guru Granth Sahib Ji Santhia. We hope these students continue to stay connected to Gurbani and Gurmat. While these students completed their GC levels, many students began their journey this year in Level 1.