The Benji Project to offer two summer camps

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 5, 2026

PORT TOWNSEND — The Benji Project will host two youth summer camps in July grounded in mindful self-compassion.

Pride Camp for students ages 11-16 will take place July 6-10. Mindfulness on Land and Sea Maritime Camp for ages 12-16 will take place July 27-31.

Registration can be found at thebenjiproject.org/camp. The camps both cost $400. An option to pay what you want is available. No verification of income is required.

Also available are free rides for attendees who come from South Jefferson County or Discovery Bay.

“The mindful self-compassion approach is really trying to look at how we can all have pretty harsh inner critics, and particularly for teens, I think that can be a strong challenge,” said Heather McRae-Woolf, The Benji Project’s executive director. “This curriculum is about how do we cultivate inner kindness so that we can really be our (own) friend during times of struggle?”

The Benji Project’s Pride Camp is moving into its fourth annual convening. Previously offered specifically for LGBTQ+ youth, this year the camp will be opened to allies.

“There are young people who would really like to be in an inclusive, welcoming space, potentially supporting their LGBTQ+ friends but might not be totally clear about their own identification,” McRae-Woolf said. “We wanted to really open it up.”

The camp is led by a team of instructors who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community. The camp also features some local LGBTQ+ community members who share their experiences with the group.

“Some of the activities are very similar across all of our camps,” McRae-Woolf said. “We do a lot of activities in nature. We have time as a group, and also we do some individual reflections in nature. We do walks in nature. We are also doing art activities. We pretty much every year have some guest artist offering a particular type of activity.”

Group discussions have campers consider mindful self-compassion, McRae-Woolf said. In one exercise, students are asked to consider that a friend is going through a difficult hypothetical scenario. They discuss how they would support their friend. Then, the students are asked to consider how they would support themselves going through the same hypothetical scenario.

The Benji Project has been running Mindfulness in Motion camps since 2018. The Pride Camp started based on requests from families for something specifically to support queer youth.

“This is a particular need and interest,” McRae-Woolf said.

Exploring some of these topics, which can be vulnerable, can be easier in a like-minded community, McRae-Woolf said.

“As an organization, we are very aware that the mental health struggles facing our LGBTQ+ youth tend to be greater,” McRae-Woolf said. “Statistically, the rates of anxiety, depression and suicidality in queer youth are higher.”

While The Benji Project does have a licensed mental health therapist on staff, and staff receive training to support youth, McRae-Woolf noted that they do not purport to be therapy and try to give referrals to students and families for professional help when issues present as more serious.

The Mindfulness on Land and Sea Maritime Camp, which is limited to 11 participants, is a first-time partnership between The Benji Project and Northwest Maritime.

Attending students will have an opportunity for two half-day outings on longboats.

“When we started thinking about what kinds of experiential activities could demonstrate the power of mindfulness, we thought of being on the water and rowing a boat,” McRae-Woolf said. “That requires presence, focus and patience. It is mindfulness embodied.”

Campers will be offered an additional extension day on July 25 to witness and support the Tribal Canoe Journey that will land at Fort Worden. Guest teacher Sabrina McQuillen Hill of the Makah Tribe will join the camp to share the history of the Canoe Journey and her tribe’s relationship to the sea.

The Benji Project was started by Cynthia Osterman in the wake of her son Benji Kenworthy’s suicide.

“In her grief, really processing that really unimaginable tragedy, she was searching for what could have helped him and what might help others,” McRae-Woolf said. “One thing she was really aware of was the challenges around self-criticism, like, ‘I’m not enough.’”

Osterman researched different curricula before she found the Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens curriculum, which became the foundation of The Benji Project’s approach, McRae-Woolf said.

McRae-Woolf noted that the organization, which has largely focused on Jefferson County, is seeking to expand focus into Clallam County as well. It has recently received Clallam County-specific funding, she added.

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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.