From YMCA Day Camper to creator: LaurDIY featured by CBC News
YMCA of Niagara is proud to see a former YMCA Day camper featured in a recent CBC News story. St. Catharines raised creator Lauren Riihimaki (LaurDIY) reflects on her early love of making things, including embroidered friendship bracelets she learned at YMCA of Niagara summer camp, and how those creative moments helped shape what came next.
Today, LaurDIY is a recognizable crafts and lifestyle creator with a global audience, now based in Los Angeles with millions of followers.
While crafts are part of the fun at camp, our focus is bigger. YMCA Day Camps help kids build resilience, confidence, and the willingness to take healthy chances, skills that support future success in school, relationships, and leadership.
And it’s also why our values based traditions, like our bead program, mean so much. They’re a simple, lasting way to recognize effort, kindness, courage, and growth, and a YMCA camp point of difference that stays with kids long after summer ends.
Source: CBC News, “How L.A.-based YouTube star LaurDIY started out as a kid crafter in St. Catharines, Ont.” by Diona Macalinga (Feb 24, 2026)
