One afternoon, 15 teenage campers walked into the Fox Den, all of them sweaty and tired. They weren’t coming from tennis, basketball or field hockey, though; they were coming from the Capital Area Food Bank, where they had spent their morning.

The Sidwell Summer Community Service camp is a program in which campers in grades 7-10 get real-world experiences through service to others and the community at large. This summer the camp has partnered with the Capital Area Food Bank, which aims to solve hunger and its accompanying effects. Working with CAFB provides an opportunity for campers to learn about — and combat — hunger in the DC area.

"There was no one slacking."

Miranda, 15, has been attending Sidwell Summer camps for years, but this is her first time at Community Service. “I just wanted to make a difference and help people,” she says.

That day Miranda and her fellow campers packed nonperishable food into crates to be distributed to families in the area.

“We’re all sweaty and hot,” Miranda says. “But what I liked was everyone was working well together. There was no one slacking.”

Community Service isn’t a sports camp, but its campers are still a team.