The Pythian Youth Camp holds the promise of a different life for at-risk children. A child leaves the often-cruel streets of the city, seeing for the first time night skies filled with stars; hearing the running waters as they flow through quiet canyons; feeling the freshness of mountain winds; hearing joy and laughter echoed from the trees and mountains while sitting around a campfire. A camp counselor identifies the General Sherman. A bear appears and makes its way between the trees and shadows. A pine needle pasted in a journal beside a special note tells of a story learned in an afternoon scavenger hunt. A camp director hones the idea of a world where each child is special. Parents, having never known the joy of camping themselves, dream of childhood and are grateful that their child is among the Children at Camp.
The Pythian Youth Camp is known for its ability to transform the lives of children, and strengthen the connections between children and their families, schools and communities. We are sensitive to the social and economic conditions that threaten the wellbeing of children, and we seek ways to make the world a safer, more responsive place to their needs. Our board continues to explore ways to provide each child a life-changing experience, and to motivate and challenge them to explore worlds they never before imagined.
It is this breadth of accomplishment and activity that separates the Pythian Youth Foundation and the Pythian Youth Camp from other camping programs. Every year since 1946, The Pythian Youth Foundation of California has provided children the opportunity to take a break and to be embraced as children—both by nature and by individuals who recognize their uniqueness and their potential for making the world a better place for all of its citizens. This is why our campaign is called CHILDREN AT CAMP.
CHILDREN AT CAMP is about life-changing experiences and the people who inspire them. At Camp children enjoy three healthy meals a day for seven-days; they receive guidance by our professional staff and have the opportunity to participate in arts, crafts, swimming lessons, hiking and excursions in the forest.
President Trumans Legacy
When Harry S. Truman took Office in 1945 he accomplished several things: He revised Social Security, passed the Fair Housing Act, and help to establish the nations first and only land-grant camp. The Pythian Youth Foundation of CA is the keeper of President Trumans vision of a wilderness camp where disadvantaged children can retreat from often improvised cities and experience first-hand the awe and wonder of nature.
Camping has the power to change a childs perception of themselves and the world that they live in. CHILDREN AT CAMP make new friends; they develop communications skills and learn about shared responsibility; they gain confidence in themselves and in their ability to cope with fears and frustrations.
Other PYF Youth-oriented Programs
Safety Helmets - the PYF donated 2,000 safety helmets for kids, to local communities. This program, in partnership with the L. A. Sheriff and local Police Departments, allows officers to provide kids who are bicycling or skateboarding without protection, Snell approved safety helmets, instead of a citation. We aim to increase distribution of helmets by 20%, including in Fresno if possible.
Is This Book For Me? - Under this program designed to fight illiteracy, the PYF distributed over 25,000 children’s books to community clinics, hospitals, libraries and children’s organizations, recruiting commercial businesses and their employees to collect in especially designed Pythian bags, the books from their friends, family, colleagues and community organizations. Our goals are: to increase at minimum the volume of books collected and distributed by 10%, continuing to work with libraries, hospitals and other institutions; pursue a strategic relationship with Amazon, Google, Apple or other suitable provider(s), to include as part of an extended and improved program, reading tablets and electronic books distribution.
Fraternal Order Knights of Pythias & Pythian Sisters
The Pythian Youth Camp is the Jewel of the Order Knights Pythias. The camp holds the promise of a different life for at-risk children. A child leaves the often cruel streets of the inner-city, seeing for the first time night skies filled with stars; hearing the running waters as they flow through quiet canyons; feeling the freshness of mountain winds; hearing joy and laughter echoed from the trees and mountains while sitting around a campfire. Children at Camp is about life-changing experience and the people who inspire them. We invite you to join us in our campaign to send children to camp.
"We take children to camp!"
Pythians are pledged to the promotion of understanding among men of good will as the surest means of attaining Universal Peace, We believe that men and women meeting in the spirit of goodwill, in an honest effort of understanding, can live together on this earth in peace and harmony. The Order, established in 1864 in Washington DC by Justus H. Rathbone, was the first fraternal order chartered by an act of Congress. The Pythian Sisters was founded 24 years later, in 1888.Domains of the orders exist in most states and provinces, and subordinate lodges are located in most cities across the United States and Canada.

Famous Knights
William McKinley, U.S. President
Peter King, U.S. Congressman
Hubert Humphrey, U.S. Vice President
Warren G. Harding, U.S. President
Robert Byrd, U.S. Senator
William Jennings Bryant, U.S. Senator
Hugo Black, Chief justice
Sun Ra, Jazz Musician
Nelson A. Rockefeller, U.S. Vice President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President
James Roosevelt, U.S. Congressman
Charles Schumer, U.S. Senator
Lew Wallace, General, Author, Diplomat
Anthony Weiner, U.S. Congressman