Our HIstory
Shiloh Youth Ranch was incorporated with the province of Alberta in 2000 as a non-profit society and is a Canadian Registered Charity. We are a Christian-based organization with a number of sponsoring churches and are affiliated with the Alberta Missions Society.
In the mid 1990s, an Edmonton Pastor was walking downtown and came across a playground. There were lots of children playing and when he looked closer, he also noticed drugs laying around, needles, condoms and no adult supervision. In that moment, Pastor Raymond Rueb knew the kids he was observing needed somewhere, away from their current environment, where they could have a positive and impactful experience. Somewhere like a summer camp.
Pastor Rueb discussed his idea with his friends and people from his church. Local businessman John Rebman donated 160 acres of land for the purpose of starting a summer camp and Norm Bonk became the first Director of the Shiloh Youth Ranch.
The first group of campers – almost 400 of them - arrived at camp in the summer of 2000. In 2017, Shiloh began consistently running a mentorship program called Connections and since 2018, we have hosted weekly, large and small group events as well as one on one mentoring around the city of Edmonton.
Over the past 20 years, with the help of our partner organizations, Shiloh has been able to impact over 6,000 kids and youth through our programs. The vision for Shiloh was, and continues to be, a place that facilitates positive life-change for children and youth living in high-risk and vulnerable situations.