Non-Profit Organization

The mission of Camp Josh is to provide outdoor recreational opportunities and education for people who have a disability of any kind, focusing on hunting, fishing, and the camp itself.  We are a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization, and operate on a volunteer basis.  We have no paid staff.  The camp is located on 40 acres on the Cranberry River in Ontonagon County, and was named after Josh Bader, an enthusiastic young man with a significant mobility impairment, who tragically passed on far too soon.  Camp Josh was organized as a 501(c)(3) in the year 2000.  The cabin and grounds were donated by Norman Pestka of Ontonagon.

Improvements to Camp Josh include, a new fence around the pond, a paved walkway from the cabin to the gazebo, a new floating dock/bridge for the pond and a new parking lot and drive thru for the busses. Our future plan is building a learning center. We restock our pond every year, the Keweenaw Bay tribe donates rainbow trout from their Pequaming hatchery and The Watersmeet trout hatchery also donates rainbow trout to our pond. We measure success by smiles, and the smiles were abundant. Be sure to check out our photo gallery on the website.

We host multiple outings, with over 200 users with support people who enjoy our activities and keep coming back year after year, for children with developmental and physical disabilities, adults with developmental and physical disabilities, and veterans.  We do not charge a fee for our users.

    The Camp Josh Board consists of 16 people, and we utilize all of them, plus additional volunteers to accomplish our events.  Eugene Lewis is President and the event coordinator and can be reached at 906-390-2345.  He is also known as our fun coordinator.  Give him a call if you wish to plan an outing for next summer.

    An addition to the Camp Josh story is Doug Filppula’s collection.  Doug was a passionate enthusiast of the outdoors, and a role model for children.  He influenced many as a teacher in Ontonagon Area Schools.  Throughout his life, he collected guns, paintings, knives and memorabilia for their uniqueness and simplicity.  He lived as an advocate for the beauty of nature and took great pride in all of his collectibles.  Doug loved sharing the joy of his collection with youth, friends and family.  At our annual Camp Josh Banquet, some of Doug’s collection of guns and collectibles are on display, to be raffled or auctioned in order to allow his friends and family to continue to enjoy them as he did.  All proceeds raised from Doug’s collection are shared between Camp Josh and scholarships for youth, in Doug’s name, at the Ontonagon Area High School.

Camp Josh has been featured in recent newspaper articles. Click on the buttons below to read about our program: