Porter Foundation at 50

Founding Principles Still Guide Non-Profit

Former trustees Carl Metzger, Jim Kaemmerlen, Phil Flanagan, and King Webster with former director Nick Latham (center) at Kabeyun's 75th anniversary celebration.

As Kabeyun approaches its centennial, we’re marking another important anniversary: it’s been 50 years since The John & Anna Newton Porter Foundation was established as the charitable non-profit that operates camp, overseen by a 15-member board of trustees.

Before that, Kabeyun was privately owned by founder John Porter, later joined by a small group of shareholders.

“The story of the Porter Foundation is really the story of many dedicated folks who have served camp as trustees and in other capacities,” says current board chair Doug Latham.

Bill French is one of those dedicated folks. He was a key figure in moving Kabeyun from a privately-owned camp to a non-profit one in 1973 and has served as a trustee since the board’s inception.

“I am most proud of the fact that we established the foundation when we did,” Bill says. “It basically saved camp.”

By the early 1970’s, skyrocketing property taxes made it difficult for many camps, especially in New Hampshire, to afford the land they’d been on for decades. Camps across New England were closing as owners sold their land in lucrative real estate deals. Others became non-profits. John, his wife Anna, and others were intent on preserving camp and protecting the land from development.

“As John Porter was stepping back from the camp he founded and controlled, it became apparent that the best way to preserve this property and the camp was to turn it into a non-profit and provide for preservation in perpetuity,” Doug explains. “It’s clear that in the long run it really was the right solution.”

John remained involved in camp and the board of directors until his death in 1978. Decades later, his philosophy and priorities still inform all the board’s decisions.

“Kabeyun has evolved yet held to its core principles,” Doug says. “Trustees have worked very hard to support the directors in making changes in the context of John Porter’s vision.”

Former trustees Carl Metzger, Jim Kaemmerlen, Phil Flanagan, and King Webster with former director Nick Latham (center) at Kabeyun's 75th anniversary celebration.

To do this work, the full board typically meets twice per year, with some sub-committees convening more often. Each trustee brings their specific expertise and experiences to board discussions.

"The board tasks itself with the big picture – where have we been, and where are we going,” says director Ken Robbins. "Their focus is on positioning Kabeyun for a strong, sustainable future. When extraordinary and difficult moments present themselves, trustees are ready to step up.”

Ken’s talking, of course, about COVID and the gut-wrenching decision not to open camp in 2020.

“It was an exceptionally difficult decision to make. After days and weeks of debate and deliberation, it was made with confidence. It was the right call,” Ken recalls. 

“It highlighted the value of having a wide array of experiences on our board. Paul Ash, who’d been superintendent of a large school district. Andy Baumel and Bill Robinson, physicians who understood the science and could distill the medical information that was constantly changing. All of our trustees are devoted to camp and ready for that moment when they have what camp needs.”

The Porter Foundation is, in the simplest terms, “Kabeyun’s compass,” says Doug, who has served on the board for nearly half its existence. 

While trustees have had to grapple with complicated topics, including where and when to invest in capital improvements, how to protect and grow camp’s endowment funds, the role of women at camp, and our transgender policy, camp’s founding principles provide a ‘true north,’ Doug explains. “Just like John Porter did, we always ask ourselves, ‘What will best serve Kabeyun boys, now and for generations to come?’”