YMCA Camp Eberhart Alumni Spotlight: Alane (Summers) Helmer
For Alane (Summers) Helmer, YMCA Camp Eberhart was never just a summer activity. It was a place of belonging, growth, friendship, and family identity; so foundational that even now, when she talks with her siblings about it, they simply call it Camp, with a capital C.
Alane first visited YMCA Camp Eberhart in the mid-1990s during Family Camp. That first taste was enough. “After that, I begged my parents to let me go as a camper,” she said. Before long, YMCA Camp Eberhart became not only a cherished part of Alane’s childhood, but a defining thread woven through her family’s story.
As the oldest of the three Summers siblings, Alane was the first to attend sleepaway camp. She remembers arriving as a self-conscious middle schooler (glasses, perm, and all) but at Camp, those insecurities seemed to melt away. “I didn’t feel awkward at Camp,” she said. “I just felt like myself.”
That sense of freedom and acceptance became one of the most meaningful parts of her YMCA Camp Eberhart experience. “You could truly just be yourself,” Alane shared. “There was no assumed identity. You were just who you were.” That environment made it easy to form deep and lasting friendships, including with counselors she still keeps in touch with today.
What began as Alane’s experience soon became a family tradition. Her brother Evan Summers and sister Iris (Summers) Hurst followed her to Camp, and all three eventually became counselors. One especially memorable family story still makes her smile: When Iris first attended a three-day trial camp, their parents arrived midweek to pick her up—only to discover that Iris had already decided she was staying the whole week. “She started crying, ‘Don’t take me, don’t take me,’” Alane recalled. “It was instant love for her.”
For the Summers siblings, YMCA Camp Eberhart became more than a place. It became a shared language. They know the same songs, remember the same stories, and carry the same friendships across decades. “When we talk about Camp, we just call it Camp,” Alane said. “We know what that is.”
Some of her strongest memories are rooted in simple joys: Horseback riding during her “horse phase,” arts and crafts, singing camp songs, and the camaraderie that seemed to transcend hometown social circles. At YMCA Camp Eberhart, friendships formed that might never have happened back home. “I met friends at camp who went to my same high school, and we would have never sat at the same lunch table,” she said. “But we were super close at Camp.”
That wide-open sense of community is one reason Alane believes YMCA Camp Eberhart continues to resonate so deeply with generations of campers. It gave her a broader view of friendship, helping her connect with people from different backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. “A diverse group of friends makes your own life so much fuller,” she said.
Camp also helped shape her as a leader. Transitioning from camper to counselor came with awkward moments and new responsibility, but it was also transformative. Alane credits mentors like Sarah Silver and Heather Hanley with helping guide her through that process. As a young counselor, she learned to lead, ask for help, care for others, and shoulder responsibility with confidence—lessons she still carries into her professional life today as VP of Community Philanthropy, Riley Children’s Foundation.
“I was given a lot of responsibility as a teenager,” she said. “I don’t regret that, and I appreciate it.”
Now a parent herself, Alane sees Camp Eberhart through a new lens. She understands more fully what a leap of trust it is for families to send their children away to camp, and how meaningful that gift can be. “YMCA Camp Eberhart is and will always be a gift that my parents gave me and my brother and my sister,” she said.
The word gift came up again and again as Alane reflected on what camp meant to her life. The friendships, the confidence, the independence, the memories, the sibling bond, and the lifelong sense of belonging all trace back to YMCA Camp Eberhart. Even today, camp relationships remain immediate and enduring. “It’s this beautiful community that follows you wherever life may take you,” she said.
When asked why Camp Eberhart remains so meaningful to so many people, Alane didn’t hesitate. “YMCA Camp Eberhart’s a very sacred place,” she said. “Once you’re there and once you let your guard down a little bit, you can figure out who you are as a human and what parts of that humanness you want to chase as you get older.”
For children and families considering camp for the first time, Alane offers reassurance rooted in lived experience. Yes, there may be nerves and homesickness. But on the other side of that discomfort is growth, friendship, independence, and joy. And for her, that is exactly why Camp Eberhart is worth preserving.
Because for so many families, including her own, it is not just a place where summers happen. It is a place where people become more fully themselves.
Help More Kids Experience the Gift of Camp
For Alane Helmer, YMCA Camp Eberhart was one of the greatest gifts her parents ever gave her, her brother, and her sister. It gave them confidence, friendship, independence, and memories that still connect them decades later.
That is the power of Camp.
Your support helps ensure more children have the opportunity to experience that same sense of belonging, growth, and adventure. Gifts to YMCA Camp Eberhart help preserve traditions, strengthen programming, and open the door for future campers to discover who they are in a place that welcomes them fully.
To learn more about YMCA Camp Eberhart or how to support its mission, visit here.
