Camp Ba Yo Ca

In this episode of East Tennessee Now, host Frank Murphy welcomes Carter Brown, director of Camp Bioka, a nonprofit summer camp founded in 1958 as a ministry for inner-city youth in Knoxville. Carter shares his personal journey from camper to volunteer to director, emphasizing the camp’s enduring mission to provide a technology-free, nature-rich environment where children build life skills, form lasting friendships, and experience community. He highlights the camp’s unique features—no cell service, family-style meals, and hands-on activities like canoeing, archery, and campfire storytelling—as essential tools for mental and emotional growth in a digital age. Carter also discusses the camp’s financial model, which relies heavily on donations and scholarships (with 40% of campers receiving aid), and introduces new initiatives like a golf tournament and polar plunge fundraiser to support its sustainability. The episode closes with a heartfelt call to action for families to register their children and donors to support the camp’s mission of fostering connection, resilience, and joy through simple, meaningful experiences in nature.