Camp Hawkeye going strong after 26 years

South Padre Island, Texas turns into a gridlock when Memorial Day weekend comes around. For City Kids Adventures (CKA), this band of servant leaders in training brave the traffic and the elements to reflect and celebrate the school year. The non-profit organization CKA, which started in 1995, celebrates their annual Camp Hawkeye trip. Camp Hawkeye has only been halted once in CKA’s 26 year existence; it is the ultimate homage to the origin of the organization’s success.

CKA Origin:

Camp Hawkeye is the brainchild of Leon McNeil, servant leader practitioner of Devine, TX. In the school year of 1995, McNeil wanted to incentivize the kids of Cooper Middle School with a camping trip reward in exchange for an 80 average or better in their classes, and participation in at least three sports. The agreement came to fruition for 20 kids; they ended up camping at the Guadalupe State Park.

“I thought these kids are like me, they have never experienced the outdoors before, said McNeil”

McNeil, a graduate of Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, TX, and an Abilene Christian University alumnus, learned about the outdoors in his college days. The inner-city kids of San Antonio Independent School District learned about the outdoors back then and continue the tradition. Fast forward to today, CKA still conducts Camp Hawkeye, only the scenery has shifted to on-the-beach camping and the McNeil family, Leon, Leticia, and Lee Charles, run the show for a caravan of 70 participants that extend throughout the Greater San Antonio area.

Servant Leadership Implementation:

The secret sauce of the program is from children to adolescents, the group works in unison to get daily essentials done. Setting up the camp can be a difficult task and the most veteran participants of the program are tasked to create a camping environment filled with dozens of tents, an oversize pavilion, and several pieces of equipment to create their home for the next three days.

Enjoying the beach is just a side effect to the hard work that goes on. “Hard work has many rewards” is a mantra that the organizational spirit promotes. Learning comes in different forms and embracing the outdoors is the holistic binding element. There is a reason it is called “roughing-it,” when referring to camping. Yet, this is camping with a twist. With CKA, there is a daily regiment of career explorations, outdoors activities, and reflection. If you have ever been camping, then you know bonds are strengthen. With this group, the family is 70 strong on Beach Access 6 of South Padre Island.

Photo by Yvan Salazar

Reflection Time:

It is 9:30 pm, 20 mph winds, and a night filled with constellations. The camp fire is burning and children seem to be tired from a day filled with of a plethora of activities infusing learning about turtles, dinner in Washington Park of Port Isabel, Texas, and Go-Cart riding. Coach McNeil brings the troop back to reflect. The industrial flood lights are not working, and the bus ride from San Antonio, TX was lengthy due to big storm system. It has been raining for at least two hours on the beach and people are leaving. From a distance, Coach McNeil says, “tough times don’t last, but tough people do.” This was early in the morning before the kids arrived to the beach. After a full day, the camp fire and its captivated audience were treated to alumnus of the program to share their stories. On the website, it states that over 1,400 students have gone through the program. In the close of reflection, it is clear that the impact CKA has is a boulder creating waves and then ripples to impact the communities surpassing tangible numbers. Servant Leadership is that boulder and CKA is the waves and ripples.

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