GREENVILLE – Campers from The Light Foundation’s Camp Vohokase were once again visible in Greenville City Park, helping to pour concrete and construct a shelter house for work being completed following the 2024 tornado.
“Young people today often don’t get out as much to realize just how fulfilling it can be to serve others,” said Light Foundation’s Matt Light. “When they do, it’s pretty cool.”
Each year, the Light Foundation’s Camp Vohokase does service projects for the City of Greenville, which have included mulching the circle and downtown area, picking up branches following the 2024 tornado, and many more.
“The Light Foundation called and wanted a project to do,” Greenville Safety Service Director Ryan Delk said. “We’ve done mulch, and last year, after the tornado, they helped pick up sticks. I believe it is very important to teach the youth about construction and the construction industry. It can be a great career. Unfortunately, not many young people are getting into it. Down the road, when some of us can’t do it anymore and need to hire someone, we’re not going to be able to find anybody because no one is taking over, so I think it is a great opportunity for them.”
“We have a great group of guys that work in our street department,” Delk added, “and they are great teachers trying to teach the next generation.”
“These guys never poured concrete, that’s a tough job, and it was hot,” Light stated. “What is great is that they get to see how much pride the guys that work for this city take in helping rebuild the area. There is nothing like hard work and the sense of earning what you get and then taking pride in the outcome, because when you can walk away and say, ‘I moved the needle on that one,’ and it’s not as easy as you think it is.”
Upon founding the Light Foundation, Matt dreamed about starting a camp where young men could learn lifelong skills that would help them be R.E.A.L (Responsible, Ethical, Accountable, Leaders). The Light Foundation’s premier program, Camp Vohokase, has done just that.
Each year, Matt chooses four incoming high school freshmen from an at-risk community and asks them to commit the next four years to our leadership program, which includes eight days at Chenoweth Trails each summer. There are always 18 boys in camp, four from each grade level, with each group coming from a different part of the country. Those locations, all with a connection to the Light Foundation, include Greenville, Ohio, where Matt grew up; Woonsocket, Rhode Island, close to where Matt holds his signature fundraising event; New Orleans, Louisiana, where a like-minded charity had asked for help; West Lafayette, Indiana, where Matt attended Purdue; Gloucester, Worcester and New Bedford, Massachusetts, all close to where Matt played during his NFL years; Hammond, Indiana, where Matt’s wife Susie grew up and identified a need for support; and Washington D.C, where the treasurer of the board resides.
“For these guys, there is some continuity because we have been up on the circle,” Light shared. “When they’re on the circle, they get to be a little bit more visible than out here in the woods. They like the fact that people are going by and honking and saying things. They feel like they are part of this community, they get a sense of accomplishment, and that sense of accomplishment where they’re putting in hard work, and maybe they don’t want to be there, but everybody else is doing it, and they know that it is part of the program.”
“As we talk here at the Light Foundation, especially with Camp Vohokase, these guys are representatives of us, but we are the representatives for the people who invested in us, sponsors and people that go out of their way to help make the things we do possible,” Light continued. “What is awesome for me is that I get to rely on people like Ryan Delk and guys on our board that have done a lot to help us get to where we are today, and to take those relationships and find a way that these guys can take pride in.”
Many Camp Vohokase graduates return to Greenville to help with the camp and share camp experiences with current campers.
“One of our counselors here that graduated in his class (Camp Vohokase) from Hammond, Indiana, he’s now skyscrapers, he’s hundreds of feet, a hundred stories up on a wire building things, and it started with experiences he had right here in Darke County,” Light concluded, “so that’s really cool.”
