The Summer Matters Campaign
Summer Matters is a $1.5 million campaign to ensure that children—regardless of income, zip code, or circumstance—experience high-quality, transformative summer learning when it matters most.
What is The Summer Matters Campaign?
Summer break is just around the corner.
While many families are busy preparing for the summer months, planning vacations, camps, and classes for their kids, too many children face barriers to overcome instead of these opportunities.
Talent is universal. Access and opportunity are not.
Our campaign is working to change that by creating equal access to quality programming because #SummerMatters.
The Summer Slide
Summer is more than time off—it’s a chance to learn, grow, and connect. If you add up every summer from kindergarten through college.
That’s five and a half years of learning.
When kids fall behind in the summer months, it is called the Summer Slide.
The Summer Slide erodes learning. Reading and math skills decline significantly, with math especially vulnerable.
Loss compounds over time. Small setbacks accumulate, leading to substantial academic lag by mid-elementary school.
Cost remains a major hurdle. Affordability continues to be the main reason low-income families can’t enroll children in summer programs.
Inequitable access widens gaps. The stark difference in participation rates— 38% vs. 67%—shows low-income children are systematically missing out on critical learning opportunities.
The Solution
The Summer Matters Campaign is a bold $1.5 million fundraising effort to secure the future of high-quality, inclusive summer learning experiences for children across our community. Funds will be invested in three key areas:
Sustain and grow Co-Op Summer Enrichment
Support Mamaroneck’s only summer program for underserved children, keeping it affordable, high-quality, and accessible for all families.Expand access to STEM learning
Bring hands-on, expert-led STEM learning to partner camps serving low-income children, giving every child the chance to explore science, technology, engineering, and math in fun, confidence-building ways.Support youth employment and leadership
Provide fair pay for teen counselors and program staff while creating meaningful leadership opportunities for young people.
Why Does Summer Matter?
Summer is a critical inflection point for entire communities.
When all children and teens have access to high-quality programs, academic progress accelerates, opportunity gaps narrow, and collective outcomes improve for everyone.
Youth employment creates first career pathways.
Teens take their first professional steps through paid roles. They gain responsibility while benefiting younger students, supporting working families, and reinforcing the shared values that help the entire communities thrive.
High-quality summer programs drive measurable results.
Through STEM learning, leadership development, and real-world experiences, students gain the critical skills and exposure needed to succeed in school, careers, and a rapidly evolving economy.
What YOU Can Do Now
Summer is just around the corner. Let’s create more enriching opportunities for communities, together!
The cost of your $5,000 summer vacation could provide one stellar field trip for over 40 kids!
The cost of your weekend road trip, $1,000, could provide STEM supplies for over 250 campers!
The cost of your $250 family beach day could provide a Robotics kit for a community center’s day camp.