About Kids Across America
Our Mission
To Build Christian Leaders by Encouraging, Equipping, and Empowering Urban Youth and Their Mentors Through Camping and Education
Our Vision
Transforming Urban Youth to Impact their Communities for Christ
Our Story
Kids Across America is a Christian sports camp committed to transforming urban America with the Gospel message. We do so using sports and urban arts as a platform to share the Gospel with youth and their leaders from all across the country.
In 1978, Kanakuk dedicated the final week of its summer season to welcome urban youth, creating space for young people to encounter faith, mentorship, and life-changing community through sports and shared experiences.
As the impact of those early camp experiences grew, the ministry began establishing its own structure and long-term vision. In 1985, Kids Across America was formally established as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, marking an important step in developing a ministry dedicated to serving youth and their leaders through Christ-centered programming and leadership development.
By 1991, the first dedicated KAA campus welcomed campers for what would become a signature experience built around athletic competition, creative expression, intentional discipleship, and leadership development. The camp environment was designed to reflect both excellence and belonging, where youth could grow in confidence, character, and faith while forming relationships that often last well beyond a single week of camp.
Growth continued throughout the 1990s and early 2000s as additional campuses were established to expand opportunities for participation and mentorship. The ministry also extended its impact through Higher Ground, a leadership-focused camp experience that invests in older youth and young adults, equipping them to lead, serve, and influence their communities with purpose and faith-centered values.
Today, Kids Across America serves thousands of campers, mentors, and families each year while continuing to deepen its commitment to discipleship, leadership development, and year-round engagement. What began as a single week of camp has grown into a dynamic ministry dedicated to shaping lives, strengthening leaders, and building communities rooted in faith, resilience, and hope.
Our Core Values
Christ Centered: We aspire to reflect the love of Christ and lift him up in all we do.
Education and Training: We actively engage people in life-changing learning experiences that provide growth and enrichment.
Stewardship: We will honor God with all our resources and celebrate those who provide them.
Integrity: We commit to open communication, honesty, and personal and organizational accountability.
Culturally Relevant: We will engage our communities in ways that are compelling and relevant to them.
Unity: We embrace cultural differences, build bridges, resolve conflict peaceably, and seek to be an example of unified diversity.
Summer Staff
Do you want to take your love for sports and the arts and use it as a platform to share the love of Christ?
Are you willing to be used by God to minister to urban youth?
Are you looking for more than a job, but rather “A Life Changing Experience”?
Do you want to do something that will have eternal rewards?
If your answer to any of these questions is YES, then YOU may be who we are looking for! We hire more than 600 godly college students and athletes every summer to serve as coaches, teachers, mentors and more to over 6,500 campers from across America.
It’s more than just a summer job.