For 45 years, Camp Best Friends has been a summer tradition for Atlanta families.
The City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation recently kicked off the program’s 45th anniversary at Anderson Park, celebrating a camp that has introduced generations of young people to new experiences, new friendships and some of their favorite summer memories.
Founded during the administration of former Mayor Maynard Jackson, Camp Best Friends was created to give Atlanta’s children a safe and affordable place to spend their summers. Today, the program continues to serve thousands of youth at recreation centers and parks across the city.
A Program Families Keep Coming Back To
For Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks, Camp Best Friends is more than a City program.
She attended camp as a child and now watches her own son participate.
That full-circle moment reflects what many Atlanta families experience. Parents who once spent their summers at Camp Best Friends are now enrolling their own children, helping continue a tradition that has spanned generations.
What Campers Experience
Camp Best Friends offers far more than a typical day camp experience.
Campers receive free breakfast and lunch and take part in activities ranging from swimming and sports to STEM programming and enrichment activities. They also have opportunities to participate in free golf lessons and educational trips to local zoos and nature preserves.
The program also includes specialty camps focused on soccer, tennis and therapeutic recreation, along with the popular overnight camp experience at Lake Allatoona.
The demand remains strong. Several sites reached capacity during the second week of camp, including At-Promise South, At-Promise MLK, Zaban’s Girls Empowerment Camp, Anthony Flanagan, Bessie Branham, Martin Luther King Jr., Perkerson and William Walker parks.
Still Growing After 45 Years
While Camp Best Friends remains a summer staple, its impact reaches beyond the summer months.
The program helped lay the groundwork for many of the Department’s youth offerings, including after-school programming, aquatics programs, recreation services and the Atlanta Teen Academy.
“Camp Best Friends has positively impacted thousands of Atlanta youth over the past four and a half decades,” said Interim Parks and Recreation Commissioner Doug Voss. “As we celebrate 45 years, we honor the vision that started it all while looking ahead to the future.”
Forty-five years after it began, Camp Best Friends continues to do what it has always done: give Atlanta’s young people a place to learn, play, grow and make memories that last long after summer ends.
For more information on Camp Best Friends, including registration information, please visit the Department of Parks and Recreation online.
