Kids are headed back to school for a new year of learning and most will endure the same assignment: an essay on What I Did This Summer.
Some teachers consider the paper outdated and tired, preferring either to jump right into curriculum or testing materials, or to assign something a little more abstract.
I, however, preferred this assignment. It not only gave me a tool gauge my new student's vocabulary and writing skills (no matter what grade I was teaching), but it provided me with valuable insight into the child's home life.
I knew who had "normal" childhood experiences and who didn't.
I didn't realize until after I retired and began a street ministry how subjective that was.
My "normal" isn't the standard by which to judge others' lives. Especially children.
I know now that the childhood I took for granted contained many experiences that most children never have.
Like summer camps.
I went to many summer camps growing up. Day camps at the YWCA, the YMCA, Girl Scouts, Alexandria Zoo, Aquatic Club, St. Francis Cabrini, LSUA, Northwestern...there was no shortgage of week-long programs my parents paid for and shuttled me to.
But my favorites were the sleepaway camps.
Camp Singing Water where we had to take the St. Francisville ferry to get to the campgrounds. I was going to grow up and be a counselor there for the rest of my life.
Camp Maryhill. Whispering Pines.
Not to mention all the church camps and youth mission trips I went on.
Kids need those experiences away from home to make friends, grow and discover themselves, and just have fun.
Many kids never get the chance.
Especially homeless kids.
But Homes for the Homeless in New York set out to change that.
As appeared on AOL's webpage on July 29, 2015 (no author cited):
Summer camp is a common thing for kids to look forward to, but the 23,000 kids in New York City's homeless shelter system don't have the opportunity to count down to the days and nights of s'mores, camping out and hiking.
Homes for the Homeless -- a New York-based nonprofit -- is here to change that. The organization offers a free alternative for over 500 homeless children every summer, and since 1989, Homes for the Homeless has given homeless children the opportunity to experience summer camp.
Every summer, hundreds of homeless children -- ranging in age from 6 to 13 -- get together to experience the joy that is summer camp. The program is located in Harriman State park in upstate New York, and it includes three different 16-day sleep away sessions at Camps Lanowa and Wakonda. For many of the children, this is their first time traveling out of the city.
The children are split into bunks in cabins like they would be at any overnight summer camp, and they participate in a wide range of camp-like activities, from swimming to dancing and fishing.
The camp is free for children whose families are receiving public assistance, and children who currently live in shelters -- or have lived in shelters in the past year -- are given priority.
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There were 13 comments following the article so I read them with interest. Most of them were political discussions and attacks on the President for giving foreign aid while we had homeless children in our own country.
There was a time when I would've blindly agreed.
But the homeless kids I run into are in that situation because the parents have bigger problems than just not having a home. I placed a family in a home just last week, paid the rent and utility deposit, and took the mom shopping. Last Friday she shut the power off, got the utility deposit refund, left her kids with a neighbor and spent the week-end at a crack house.
We can't blame foreign aid allocations for that.
That isn't everyone; many parents and custodial grandparents just need a little help and they continue to provide for their families as best they can. Resources are more readily available when children are involved and everyone works to make sure the kids' basic needs are met.
Summer camp is not a basic need. It's a luxury.
That's what makes this program so special.
I'd love to see a program like this in every state next summer. We should take Homes for the Homeless' lead and create programs in our own states.
Every kid deserves at least one summer camp experience.
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