This month Camp Winfield has offered hundreds of youth and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities a magical summer camp-out experience in Lake Country.

This past week, 48 children between the ages of six and 18 gathered for a special breakfast sponsored by camp supporter the B.C. Egg Marketing Board to help mark Camp Winfield害羞草研究所檚 50th anniversary, one of five different groups who will attend the Easter Seals summer camp on Davidson Road during July.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 always a sad day and pretty emotional when the kids have to go home,害羞草研究所� said Mary-Lynn Hanson, corporate and community development manager for Camp Winfield.

害羞草研究所淭his is a special place for them because all the activities at Camp Winfield are accessible to them, which isn害羞草研究所檛 the case back home the communities where they come from. Here they can come and participate in all the activities and celebrate their individual abilities.害羞草研究所�

Camp Winfield is a BC Lions Society and Easter Seals BC/Yukon initiative, aided by numerous corporate sponsors and volunteer supporters, open to participants from across B.C. and the Yukon, equipped with staff and the equipment to meet the needs of a wide cross-section of cognitive and physical disabilities.

Easter Seals began operating the 19-acre Camp Winfield in 1968 and opened similar camps in Squamish in 1972 and Shawnigan Lake in 1976.

Finley says Camp Winfield hires 23 camp counsellors, many of them university students, to meet the high threshold ratio of staff to campers, along with grounds support maintenance staff.

害羞草研究所淭he university kids love working here because this is such a beautiful place to be and the opportunity to interact with the kids in such a special setting,害羞草研究所� Finley said.

Ryley Erickson, the Camp Winfield program coordinator, is spending his third summer at the Lake Country facility.

For Erickson, studying for his masters degree at the University of Victoria, he says what the campers give back to him is being able to view the world again through a child害羞草研究所檚 eyes with a sense of wonder.

害羞草研究所淲e don害羞草研究所檛 bring enough of that to our own regular lives,害羞草研究所� he said.

Erickson, who was born in the Cayman Islands, and had a globe-trotting childhood living in England, India and Bermuda, came to Canada for a post-secondary education, initially attending university in Nova Scotia before coming out west.

In 2015, he was lined up for a summer job as a rowing coach. 害羞草研究所淭hat job paid well and got me through the summer but it was not really something I was doing because I enjoyed it,害羞草研究所� he recalled.

Erickson was trolling for job opportunities on Craigslist and the first one he came across was a counsellor at Camp Winfield. He decided to apply and following the interview process was offered the job.

He said the high-energy interaction with the young campers can be demanding, but it is important part of helping the campers have an experience they will never forget and often come back to repeat every summer.

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Of the 48 kids at camp this past week, only three were newcomers.

害羞草研究所淲e have to keep in mind that we even though it害羞草研究所檚 working through many weeks of the summer for us, it害羞草研究所檚 just one week in our campers害羞草研究所� lives. So we need to keep that energy level up. If the roles were reversed, they would do the same for us,害羞草研究所� Erickson said.

Finley said another important by-product of Camp Winfield is the one week respite offered to parent caregivers of kids with special needs, which can often be a 24/7 obligation.

害羞草研究所淭o be able to send their kids to a camp like this, a safe environment with so many activities accessible for them to take part in, is a huge relief for those parent caregivers,害羞草研究所� Finley said.

Those activities include outdoor swimming pool, waterslide, climbing wall, trampolines, giant swing, basketball courts, mini-golf and outdoor amphitheatre where the campers provide the entertainment.

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barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
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