A small community
with a long memory.
Muslim Youth of Ottawa has been running since the 1980s. Programs come and go — the camp, halaqas, hikes, fundraisers, mentorships — but the same volunteer instinct keeps it alive: build the kind of place you wished you had as a Muslim kid in Ottawa.
What we're actually trying to build.
Ottawa is a city. Camp Smitty is in the woods. Most of what MYO does happens in the gap between those two — a halaqa in a basement community room, a hike that everyone underestimated, a Saturday cleanup at the food bank, a mentorship cohort that meets in a borrowed classroom.
The camp is the loud part of the year. It's also where most of the kids first meet each other, and where most of the volunteer leaders find out they want to keep showing up.
There's no professional staff. There's no office. There's a board of volunteers, a long list of parents who say yes when we ask, and a kitchen at Camp Smitty that has been feeding our kids for decades.
Five quiet rules.
Faith first, no apology.
Salah on time. Quran in the morning. Friendly to anyone curious about it. Never preachy.
Volunteer-led, always.
No paid staff. No fundraising salaries. The work is done by people who care.
Outside more than inside.
Trails over screens. Fire pits over function halls. Nothing replaces a long hike.
Subsidise quietly.
Money is never the reason a youth doesn't come. We don't announce who is subsidised.
Belong before you behave.
We meet kids where they are. Manners come from being included, not from being lectured.
Volunteer with us. Or just come on a hike.
Counsellor crews, weekend programs, kitchen help, hike-day drivers — there's almost always something to step into.