Camp Healing Heart, October 3rd-5th 2008
This is mainly for our Champaign-Urbana friends, but in case others are interested: pt and I plan to volunteer as Buddies again for Camp Healing Heart this year. It's the weekend of October 3rd-5th. I'm sure they'd be happy to accept volunteers for any of the tasks/phases of the event.
If you don't remember me writing about it last year, Carle Hospice holds a camp weekend each Fall at the 4-H camp next to Allerton Park. The purpose of the camp is to help children with the process of grieving the loss of a loved one. The manpower is mostly volunteers, with staff/support/organization from the Carle Home Health unit. I think it's grants and donations directly to the Camp's funds that make it possible to even hold the camp. I think the attendance has steadily grown each year, so they definitely could use the help.
It's a full weekend, with the campers arriving late Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon. As a Buddy, you are paired with a camper and spend the entire weekend with him or her, doing all the fun activities, eating meals, sleeping in the cabins, and attending the group counseling sessions.
If you have the time, I recommend helping in any way you can. It's a rewarding experience to do even just a little bit to help these kids through a tough time. Being a Buddy requires committing yourself to the entire weekend; however, the camp could use volunteers at any point for many activities or tasks. You could do things like take pictures during events (big carnival-type thing on Friday night, lots of camp activities all day on Saturday, camp Celebration Sunday afternoon); help man the tables in the craft tent; do night watch duties; set up and/or break down the camp; or even make calls and stuff envelopes in the weeks leading up to the event.
edit: Here's the list of things from the application:
Buddy (for young campers, pre-teen/teen campers, or either)
Group Facilitator (for young campers, pre-teen/teen campers, or either)
Group Support
Nurse
Photographer
Arts & Crafts
Pre-camp Volunteer
Recreational Activities
Registration & Check-Out
Camp Setup & Tear Down
Music Leaders
Volunteer Registration
Night Supervision
Runners
Other gifts or talents
Let me or pt know if you'd like the contact information for volunteering. You just have to complete a short application, and for Buddies you must authorize a background check and maybe a couple other things I can't remember right now. Training is short too, just a session that lasts 2-3 hours, held one evening before the camp weekend. Applications should reach their office by September 12th.
If you don't remember me writing about it last year, Carle Hospice holds a camp weekend each Fall at the 4-H camp next to Allerton Park. The purpose of the camp is to help children with the process of grieving the loss of a loved one. The manpower is mostly volunteers, with staff/support/organization from the Carle Home Health unit. I think it's grants and donations directly to the Camp's funds that make it possible to even hold the camp. I think the attendance has steadily grown each year, so they definitely could use the help.
It's a full weekend, with the campers arriving late Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon. As a Buddy, you are paired with a camper and spend the entire weekend with him or her, doing all the fun activities, eating meals, sleeping in the cabins, and attending the group counseling sessions.
If you have the time, I recommend helping in any way you can. It's a rewarding experience to do even just a little bit to help these kids through a tough time. Being a Buddy requires committing yourself to the entire weekend; however, the camp could use volunteers at any point for many activities or tasks. You could do things like take pictures during events (big carnival-type thing on Friday night, lots of camp activities all day on Saturday, camp Celebration Sunday afternoon); help man the tables in the craft tent; do night watch duties; set up and/or break down the camp; or even make calls and stuff envelopes in the weeks leading up to the event.
edit: Here's the list of things from the application:
Buddy (for young campers, pre-teen/teen campers, or either)
Group Facilitator (for young campers, pre-teen/teen campers, or either)
Group Support
Nurse
Photographer
Arts & Crafts
Pre-camp Volunteer
Recreational Activities
Registration & Check-Out
Camp Setup & Tear Down
Music Leaders
Volunteer Registration
Night Supervision
Runners
Other gifts or talents
Let me or pt know if you'd like the contact information for volunteering. You just have to complete a short application, and for Buddies you must authorize a background check and maybe a couple other things I can't remember right now. Training is short too, just a session that lasts 2-3 hours, held one evening before the camp weekend. Applications should reach their office by September 12th.