2025 Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp

August 20th, 2025

A Note from Charlesey

As I reflect on my week at Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp, one phrase comes to mind: try new things. This camp pulled me straight out of my shell on day one. I stepped onto the bus on Friday, and immediately was greeted with the kindest smiles by the counselors and other campers. That’s when I knew this would be the best week of my life.

I sat by a new person about every 2-3 hours, which forced me to learn to socialize on my feet and use cooperation as well as pushed me to make new friends. This might have been the start of my favorite parts of the trip: getting to know everyone around me.

I am usually not someone who wants to introduce myself and become friends with all of my peers, but the idea that was planted into my brain early in the week was the idea of trying new things. So, throughout the week, that is exactly what I did. I introduced myself to all of the other students who attended CYLC, and made friends with each and every one of them.

I was closer to some rather than others, such as my camp best friend, Lucy. Lucy pushed me so hard to try new things. We both ran to be on the board together, and she pushed me to run for an officer position, which led me to holding the board vice president position. She also pushed me to run for next year’s ambassador team, which also led me to getting a spot. Now, because of her and the support of all of the counselors and other campers, I get to return next year to push next year’s campers to try new things.

Overall, I am so very grateful for this experience and how it has changed me since I have been home. I’ve been a kinder human, a more responsible leader and overall someone who puts herself out there more often, unafraid of the opinions of those around me. I made the best friends in the world, as well as I gained a deeper understanding of the community aspect of cooperatives and how it truly takes a strong team and community to keep one much like FreeState in good standing. I am forever thankful for FreeState’s support in allowing me to attend.

Thank you so much!

Charlesey Coffin

The 48th Annual Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp (CYLC) was held July 11-17 near scenic Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Educational sessions covered leadership development, conflict resolution and co-op career opportunities. Highlights included electric safety demonstrations by cooperative linemen, a live raptor presentation from HawkQuest, and a tour of the Craig Power Station.

“I made the best friends in the world, as well as I gained a deeper understanding over the community aspect of cooperatives and how it truly takes a strong team and community to keep one much like FreeState in good standing,” Charlesey said.

Charlesey was one of six campers that were elected as camp ambassadors by their peers and will return to the 2026 camp as student counselors.

Throughout the weeklong camp, students gained hands-on experience in cooperative business operations by forming and managing a mock candy cooperative. They elected a board of directors, appointed a general manager, created committees, and held daily membership meetings, mirroring the real-world structure of member-owned cooperatives. The board is pictured above, with our delegate, Charlesey, (front, second from left) as vice president.

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