Abby Gaston is a current freshman at the University of New Hampshire, where she is studying Business Administration.  Not one to shy from a challenge, she is pursuing dual concentrations in International Business and Economics; and Marketing.  In spite of the heavy workload, she was recognized for her outstanding academic performance this past Fall by earning Highest Honors.

Abby started at Lantern Light Camps as a camper in 2022 and loved it so much that she stayed on as a CIT for the rest of that Summer.  From there, she moved on to Creative Expressions staff in 2023; then Day Camp staff in 2024; and finally, Day Camp Lead this past year.

In her application for the scholarship, Abby reflected on the immediate connection that she felt to Wah-Tut-Ca and the responsibility that she feels to contribute positively to the program.  She plans to return this Summer in her role as Day Camp Lead to continue growing the program.

Coming from a family with close ties to camp, Casey Eckelkamp grew up in the Wah-Tut-Ca community.  As a member of Troop 7 in Amesbury, he attended camp there for years before joining the staff in 2023.  

Since then, he has spent three summers as a Lifeguard at the Waterfront and has supported The Key Foundation by participating as a swimmer in the Andrew Curry Green Lake Swim.  His favorite parts of working at the Waterfront are hosting water polo games and taking campers out for expeditions on the whaleboat.

In the “off-season,” Casey is Food Science major at UMass Amherst, which combines his two passions: food and biology.  He is particularly interested in pursuing the field because of the good that Food Science can provide to humanity.  In the future, he hopes to use his degree to advance research and development of new technologies and products.

David Rubenstein is a freshman at High Point University in North Carolina, where he is studying Finance.  

He started working at Lantern Light in 2022 in the Creative Expressions area before moving to the Waterfront in 2023, and he has worked there ever since.  At the Waterfront, he saw first-hand the condition that the rowboat docks were in and decided to do something about it.  He took it upon himself to build an entirely new set of docks solely to better the camp and was recognized by TKF with the Craig Ryder Award for it.

When asked about an experience that was particularly meaningful, he recounted teaching a kid from CTI, an organization that primarily supports families in Lowell, how to swim for the first time and the pure joy that they got from the experience.  Being able to see first-hand the impact that he could have by teaching a skill that this kid otherwise might never have learned was especially powerful for David.

In the future, he hopes to build a career in corporate finance and use his knowledge to advance the sectors of energy and public policy.