wfn.org | 50th Anniversary of the Advance

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (328
notes).

Note 324 by UMNS on Sept. 16, 1997 at 16:38 Eastern (4428 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
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CONTACT: Linda Bloom                             512(10-71BP){324}
          New York (212) 870-3803                   Sept. 16, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: This story is part 3 of 3.  Photos are available.

At this summer camp,
'a chance to be normal kids'

by Mike DuBose*

     LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (UMNS) -- The girls in Cabin 2B huddle
around a table cluttered with fingernail polish, plastic beads and
Rice Krispies treats.
     Nails are painted, then repainted, plans made for swimming
after lunch and secrets exchanged about who's asking whom to the
dance Friday night.
     Only as the group heads for the dining hall does it become
apparent this is not a routine summer camp. Teen-agers in
wheelchairs and on crutches make their way along wide, paved paths
through the pine woods.
     This is Spina Bifida II Week at Camp Aldersgate, a 120-acre
facility related to the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, offering summer and weekend camping opportunities for
children with handicapping conditions as well as support services
for their families, after-school programs for at-risk youth and
weekly programs for senior citizens.
     Support for the medical camps is designated as Advance
Special No. 512215-0.
     The camp's staff and counselors are dedicated to providing a
typical camping experience while encouraging campers to learn to
do new things for themselves, according to Sherry Murray, camp
nurse.
     "Kids always want to be like everybody else and, for one week
out of the year, these kids are just like everybody else," she
explained.  "Nobody cares what they can't do or that they have to
go around in a wheelchair.  It gives them a chance to be normal
kids."
     Campers participate in many activities including swimming,
fishing, outdoor cooking, art projects and storytelling while
their medical needs are looked after by a full-time nursing staff. 
     Melanie Greer, a seven-year veteran camper, is grateful the
camp has given her the chance to grow.  "It has meant a lot to
me," she said.  "The biggest change in my life is being able to
take care of myself, to help myself."
     Melanie's mother, Phyllis Greer, credited Camp Aldersgate
with helping her learn to let go, as well.  "At first I was
nervous about it because she had never been away from us," Greer
said.  "It was really good for us because it helped me realize she
could make it for a whole week without us helping her, and it's
good for parents to know that.
     "Aldersgate taught her a lot of independence and we are
thankful for that."
     The camp, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, had its
beginnings in the early race relations movement, according to
Sarah Spencer, the executive director.
     "It was begun in 1947 by a group of people in Little Rock who
knew race relations were not what they should be," Spencer said. 
"They joined together to find a place where they could meet
peacefully without intimidation, and they found the Windy Willow
Turkey Farm that became Camp Aldersgate.
     "The original brooder barns were the first cabins. Volunteers
shoveled them out, created cabins, and it began as one of the
first interracial spots in the South," she added.
     A spirit of volunteerism has been critical to the camp's
success, Spencer said.  About 150 youth counselors volunteer each
summer, and adult work groups donate more than 20,000 hours of
service each year. 
     "I doubt that there is one square yard of this camp that has
not in some way been tended by the hands of volunteers who want
this camp to be here, who want it as a demonstration of love for
people and a place people can come to be restored," she said.
     A sense of mission at the camp tends to draw people back year
after year, according to long-time volunteer and lifetime board
member Saville Henry.  "The heart of Camp Aldersgate is the people
who love the place, the volunteers and those who work here.  We
are all in sync with what the mission is about," Henry said.
     "I just never come to this place and drive through the gates
that I don't utter a prayer that says `Thank God for Camp
Aldersgate.'"
                              #  #  #

     * DuBose is a photojournalist with United Methodist
Communications.

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