With tie-dye crafts, volleyball games and singing around the campfire, an adults-only camp in Squamish this weekend is sure to bring back childhood memories.
Campers form teams at Easter Seals Camp Challenge and compete in a series of 13 games to show their teamwork skills before they join in more relaxing activities during the afternoon and set up tents to sleep under the stars overnight.
Besides swimming and lawn games, there will also be a good dose of adult-only fun, including a Texas hold ’em poker tournament.
Participants raise money to help send around 800 children and young adults with disabilities to one of three week-long Easter Seals camps, including Camp Squamish. Due to specialized care involved, it costs around $2,400 to send one child to camp.
At Camp Challenge for the adults this weekend, “we have challenges for everyone’s skills and abilities,” said Will Prescott, who sits on Easter Seals alumni committee and previously spent five years as a counsellor at Camp Squamish. His team, “Do or Dye,” a tie-dye themed alumni team, will be competing at the camp for top honours of Camp Challenge champion, top fundraiser and the team spirit award.
“We’re going to recreate that childhood camp experience, but geared towards adults. It’s a really fun fundraising event.”
Camp Challenge was born out of Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay, which took place in Vancouver for 35 years. It replaced the relay in 2015.
Each participant has to raise at least $100 for Easter Seals camps that take place this summer. The camps, which take place in Squamish, Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island and Winfield in the Okanagan, are designed to encourage the children to gain skills and confidence and develop new friendships.
“It’s often a life-changing experience for these kids. They find new independence they didn’t have before,” said Prescott, who is a student services officer at Quest University. “I know most of them are counting down the days until camp starts.”
Through fundraising initiatives, the BC Lions Society is able to run the program at minimal cost to the families, many of which are already facing financial hardships due to the cost of raising a child with special needs.
The camps are accessible for special needs with ramps and lifts, modified washrooms and specialized sports equipment like climbing walls and giant swings.
“Socially, going to camp is huge,” said Prescott. “Unfortunately, many campers are victims of bullying or don’t have a large social circle. Some of them meet their best buddies at camp.”
