Our Story..

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Started at St. Teresa's​​

 

Every morning for three weeks in the summer, kindergarten through sixth graders filled St. Teresa's Catholic Church in Mapleton, MN. Doug and Connie watched something extraordinary unfold — when you had extended time with young people, you could create moments that changed everything.

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When those kids graduated to seventh grade, the friends wondered: "What could we create if we had them 24/7 for an entire week?'"

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Ivy joined shortly after and the three began planning.

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No camp experience. No curriculum. No blueprint. Just proof that extended time could create profound change, and a deep belief that young people deserved space to discover who they were created to be.

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Sister Chavanel at Villa Maria retreat center told them exactly what they needed to hear: "You don't need a curriculum, you need a person." That person was Beverly Hickman, who inspired them with the philosophy that still guides CMW today:

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"I am free to be me and I'm gonna be the best me that I can be."

 

From One Week to a Movement

 

What started as one week quickly grew beyond anything they imagined. Not because of marketing, but because kids came home transformed—and their siblings wanted in.

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• 1989: First Celebrate Me Week on at the Villa Maria near Frontenac, MN with just 32 campers!

• 1998: Waiting lists for both campers AND staff

• 2003: We grew from one session, to two!

• 2011: Two sessions each summer, became three!

• 2016: Three sessions became four!

• 2026: Four Week Long Sessions, with 112 Campers & 80 STAFF Members...Each!

 

Heaven on Earth

 

Ten years in, a former staff member threw down a challenge: "Make this heaven on earth." That's when CMW found its true calling— not just summer camp, but a week where every person could be fully known, fully loved, and fully free to be themselves.

Thirty-seven years later, CMW doesn't end when the week ends. It goes out into the world through every person who's experienced it. Staff carry it into their careers. Campers carry it into their relationships. The ripple effect reaches into eternity.

 

A Story Still Being Written...

 

In a world that constantly tells young people who they should be, Celebrate Me Week creates six jam packed days where they discover who they already are. What started with three friends has become a movement carried by hundreds of staff and thousands of campers who believe transformation is possible, community is essential, and every person deserves to know they are worthy of celebration.

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There's a place for you in this story.