I am a part of a family affected by disabilities. My ten-year-old brother, Aaron, has Down syndrome. While Aaron undoubtedly brings me enormous amounts of joy, many days go by when he causes frustration to our family. Sometimes we all feel like we need a break from the little guy.
It is for this reason that I decided to volunteer at the Joni and Friends camp at Wonder Valley. Joni and Friends puts on camps designed for families with disabled members.
I found out about the camp through my peer counseling class. One day teacher and vice principal Molly Sargent announced that an employee of the Joni and Friends organization would be speaking to our class. He encouraged us to give up one week of our life in order to help other families.
Family inspiration
The kicker for me was bringing it back to my own family. If my parents needed some respite from Aaron, I would surely want someone else to volunteer to take care of him in a friendly camp environment that would be fun for the entire family.
My dad dropped me off at my friend Leah Christopher’s house on Sunday, April 5. We then picked up another friend and headed together into the Sanger foothills and the Wonder Valley resort.
My heart pounded as my cell phone’s service bars went up and down. “Will I be cut off from the world for an entire six days?” I wondered. “This is more than I bargained for!” Fortunately, once we reached our destination, the bars stopped disappearing and we had signal reception.
We went through some training about dealing with the disabled. The three of us as well as four other FC students, including my good friend Chelsea Wathen, ’10, learned about appropriate and inappropriate ways to refer to disabled persons and how to address them. I felt that the training was kind of obvious, but participated nonetheless.
‘Disabilities were not crippling’
The next day, we greeted the families with waving flags, floating bubbles and joyous shouts. I eagerly awaited the arrival of the family I was assigned to and especially my camper, Megan, who has Down syndrome.
The family drove up and Chelsea, who was assigned to Megan’s adopted sister, Sarah, and I followed their car into the parking lot. We were thrilled as two adorable girls jumped out of the car. We learned that Megan was 8 and Sarah was 13 years old. We then helped them move into their room and headed to dinner.
Being around so many disabled people was a little challenging. Of course, I am used to having a disabled family member, my brother; but seeing more than 20 people running around with varying degrees of disability was a new experience.
At first, I thought it was sad. These people were mentally or physically challenged. However, as the week progressed, I began to see all the campers as beautiful their own way. Their disabilities were not crippling, but rather, they were enabled with special abilities.
A typical day at camp
From breakfast, bright and early for us spring breakers at 8:30 a.m., until bedtime for campers at 9, it was our sole responsibility to care for the kids. Megan, I soon learned, was a runner. She would be sitting at a meal eating and, before I blinked my eyes, she had run out of the cafeteria and halfway across the camp. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of running. But I quickly learned to put my selfish desires aside and focus on the needs of the family, and especially of Megan.
During the morning, we would attend play sessions and Bible lessons. I found out that my former preschool teacher was also volunteering to lead the children’s ministry, to my ecstatic surprise.
After lunch was family free time where canoes, trampolines, pony rides, go-carts and a pool were available to the families and volunteers to enjoy. After three hours of intense playing, the volunteers got a short, one-hour break from the families to do what they wished before dinner.
Each night after dinner there was a different activity. One night was a dance party for the kids, while the parents were away at a fancy dinner. Another night was campfire night where campers and volunteers roasted marshmallows and devoured s’mores and hot cocoa.
Blessed by words
The highlight of my week was definitely the talent show. My camper Megan, her sister Sarah and another one of their friends did a dance to “We’re All In This Together,” a song from the movie High School Musical that they had learned at home in a dance class. Their choreography was cute and their moves were crisp.
The final day was sad for everyone involved. We began the day with breakfast and then had a time to thank anyone at camp whose efforts we appreciated. In front of the entire camp, Sarah and Megan’s mom Teresa thanked Chelsea and I for our hard work. She even invited us to attend another Joni and Friends camp at Mission Springs and encouraged us to sign up to be volunteers with her daughters again.
I was touched by Teresa’s words. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether efforts pay off after hard work, but in this case I felt the love radiating from this precious family. I also felt that I was the one who had truly been blessed by the week.
