A Camp ASCCA Weekend
Boy, did I ever have my eyes opened last weekend!
How
many of you have ever heard of Camp ASCCA? Over 50,000 campers with
serious handicaps and disabilities from around the southeastern United
States know first-hand that this is the premiere outdoor camping
experience that serves their special need to break their bonds to a
wheelchair, a bed, or the isolation that comes with the territory of being
different.
But, have YOU heard of this place that is Number One in the world doing what it does? I had heard the name when I belonged to a Rotary Club in Montgomery in the 1990's. But, I never really understood what this program was until my wife, Georgia, became a Rotarian, started the Montgomery Morning Rotary Club, and started talking about Camp ASCCA as a worthwhile charity project that Rotary Clubs all over Alabama support. After she visited the place in 1995, she was even more enthusiastic about its programs, and she bent my ear incessantly for a while. Last weekend, she and I made the trip to the camp for its annual meeting of the Board of Directors where she was inducted as a new Board Member.
"ASCCA" is the acronym for "Alabama Special Camp for Children and Adults."
It
is an Easter Seals project created 30 years ago to serve the severely
handicapped children who exist in severely restricted environments by
breaking those bonds, allowing them to have the same outdoor camping
experiences that normal children enjoy. No kid who needs to come
here is turned away, even if the family can't pay. Some of the stories told by
the campers and their parents are literally tear-jerkers. You can't
help becoming emotional when you hear some of the things that alumni of
the camp have to say about the life-changing experiences they have had
here.
The camp is situated on 250 woodland acres at the top of Lake Martin in the hamlet of Jackson's Gap, Alabama. It's 'way out in the backwoods--but I, the original "insect candy," never felt a bug bite! As you might imagine, everything is handicap accessible--from the parking lot to all the buildings, from the swimming pool and the gym to the hunting stands in the 750 acres leased to the camp by Alabama Power for $1.00 per year. Volunteers, mostly college students (from Auburn, UA, Jacksonville State, and elsewhere), work as counselors and, along with the permanent staff, constitute a staff to camper ratio of about 2 to 1. Each year they add an activity or restore/update a building or facility or tackle a new building project--but they don't begin any project until they have the money in the bank to pay for it. No borrowing or negative spending for this bunch! Some of the major additions, such as the Environmental Center, are specially funded projects, usually of one or more Rotary Clubs.
At
the awards dinner this weekend, the main speaker was Camp ASCCA 2006
Camper of the Year, 16 year-old Justin Strickland, a Hillcrest public high
school senior from Tuscaloosa. He's a 5-year veteran of Camp ASCCA,
who said that before he knew about ASCCA, he was just your average CP kid
who sat in a wheelchair in a dark room in front of a TV until his parents
would wheel him to meals or to bed--no future at all. Now, he says
that he can do anything, and, we're betting on him becoming a
politician! His personality, his intellect, and his smile.
The kids come to ASCCA and see the woods, animals, a lake, and the challenges of all the activities for the first time. Some parents, wanting to stay and protect them as they do at home are asked by the kids themselves to leave so they can have their good times. They socialize for the first time, they take chances for the first time--but under conditions that insure their safety. They learn that by teamwork or by dent of their own effort they can do things they would never have dreamed of. The spark of the idea that they can, indeed do anything on the outside is kindled and the number and variety of activities they can participate in fans this spark into a raging fire.
One of the most stirring examples of this was told by a counselor who was taking Georgia and me on a tour of the facilities. He told of a child born without arms or legs who, at camp, learned to paint, write and use a computer by manipulating the tools with her mouth. The camping experience stimulated her to want an education like other kids. Now, she is 30 years old and employed in Russellville as a mental health counselor, living independently (but with assistance in certain activities, of course) on her own earnings, paying taxes, and providing an example to all who come in contact with her that no obstacle is too high if you really want to accomplish something. She was one of the campers who told her mother to go home and let her have a good time at ASCCA.
While
we were at the camp this weekend, a busload of Iraq War veterans who are
undergoing rehabilitation at Lakeshore Rehab Center in Birmingham arrived
with water skiing boat, and all sorts of therapists in tow (Click
Here). You see,
ASCCA is not for the kids alone, even though we think of Easter Seals as
being for kids. These wonderful facilities are available to the
disabled of all ages, and can be used by healthy, normal folks, as
well. The facilities are available to groups for a variety of
purposes: corporate team training in the climbing and obstacle
course facilities, environmental education for school groups at the
EnviroCenter or retreats--and probably others, too.
The camp started small but has grown. They've served over 50,000 in 30 years, but the number of campers has grown each year and now they see over 10,000 each year. I urge you to spend some time at their website:
Louis Buettner