Fred and Nancy: A Living Example

At Robin Hood we talk a lot about how to encourage campers to be good citizens, appreciate their good fortunes and extend themselves to others.

Fred and Nancy Stein

Our legendary namesake tells the story of a life lived with honor. But, if we were to look closer at home, we can’t think of a better example of a couple who works to make life easier for the disadvantaged than our own Fred and Nancy Stein.

Campers from 1978 to 1991 will remember Nancy, Rick Littlefield’s cousin, and Fred for their delicious, made-from-scratch camp cuisine. Together they ran the camp kitchen, and three days a week Fred baked his famous loaves of whole wheat bread. You could smell the yeast rising all over camp on those mornings. These were the days before Robin Hood was coed and it was possible for the community to sit down together at meals. Service was family style and “table boys” brought heaping bowls of food that was passed from camper to camper and dished out onto individual plates. Lest we get too nostalgic, Locksley Hall was smaller and the windows were screened – on stormy days Nancy’s steaming hot homemade soup and Fred’s warm buttered bread was the only thing that kept the chill at bay.

Fred and Nancy now split their time between their home right on Eggemoggin Reach, just a short walk from camp, and Arizona. Currently, they are far from retired.

They are very active in Home Workers Organized for More Employment in Orland, about an hour from camp, serving at the board level and in day-to-day volunteering

In Arizona they go out on “desert searches” for migrant workers in distress, handing out food packs, water and first aid, as volunteers for Green Valley Samaritans. Five days a week this organization patrols the desert in attempt to save lives. “The only thing we cannot do is transport them,” says Nancy. “Often at their request to call the Border Patrol because they do not want to go on.”

Fred and Nancy also help out at “the Comedor” in Nogales, Mexico, a place deportees can seek shelter, food and medical treatment. “We have a fund to help pay for bus tickets so the deportees can return to their homes and convince their family and friends not to try to go to the U.S. illegally,” she says. “We pray for a work program in the U.S. so they can come here legally.”

Other than that, Nancy says, “We are just trying to keep up with living!”