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Camp Sunshine and Camp Snowflake

Both Camp Sunshine and Camp Snowflake are wonderful places to grow and shine not only for campers but for volunteers too. It is located in Ridgewood, NJ at the local Duck Pond. It was created by a band of parents that wanted their children to have an enjoyable place to go in the summer. Many disabled children’s ideas of a summer vacation are quiet like other children’s, playing ball, hanging out with friends, and simply getting out of the house. At Camp Sunshine, Snowflake, and other camps around the world make these once impossible dreams possible. Even though they may have other equipment that other children do not have the camp offers them a place free of restrictions and barriers that the everyday world places upon them. By ridding these barriers campers have a sense of and build on self-esteem, courage, social relationships, and emotional growth.

What
So, what are Camp Sunshine and Camp Snowflake? They are recreational facilities for people and children with an array of disabilities, from physical to mental. Some mental disabilities that are present throughout this camp are Cri du Chat syndrome, Autism, and Downs Syndrome.

Cri Du Chat syndrome is a very rare disorder that impairs a child’s cognitive ability. The syndrome obtains its name from the cry that the child makes when they are born, as you can probably guess it is the sound of a cat. It is caused by the deletion of the 5p chromosome. Some physical signs of Cri Du Chat are epitcanthal folds, low set ears, and a small and round cranium. The camper that has this syndrome is probably one of my favorite campers. Children with Cri Du Chat syndrome have impairments within intellectual realm, from mild to severe, speech and language impairments, low musle tone, short attention span, and hyperactivity.

Autism children often show abnormal reactions to sensory stimuli, such as olfactory and auditory senses. What may be normal sounds to us may be painful to children with autism. They are also indifferent to their surroundings and like to be alone. Most have a lack of interest in toys and others. They also have an attatchment to objects, you can defiantly see these things while working in a camp. With my own experience there was a set of twins that had an obsession with the yellow box of crayons, once they obtained that box they could sit there for hours on end and draw amazing pictures such as carousels and roller coasters, in three dimensions. There was also another camper that always carried around a kitchen utensil, normally a spatula.

Downs Syndrome is another disability commonly seen in camps. Downs Syndrome is caused by an extra chromosome at birth. This extra chromosome cayses physical and cognitive delays. Children with Downs Syndrome have very distinct features. They often have a flat face, upward slant to eyes, small ears, and a single crease on the palm of their hand. Low muscle tone and loose joints are a characteristic of children that have downs syndrome. Downs Syndrome children often develop the “milestones” such as crawling and walking much later than “normal” children. However, especially now-a-days, children with downs syndrome go to school and often attend universities and are able to hold jobs.

It runs all year round, during the winter it is called Camp Snowflake and during the summer it is called Camp Sunshine. It is a place for people to get to know each other, campers as well as volunteers. The camp has faculty members that have previously volunteered for a certain number of years and who know the campers well. Both camps run primarily on volunteer care. Our volunteers mean so much to the staff as well as the campers. Each camp also goes on a number of field trips; our biggest are Bronx Zoo trip, Six Flags, and the Movie Theater.

Camp Snowflake
Camp Snowflake was founded in 1970, a year after Camp Sunshine started, by a band of parents and the Nuzzo family. They began their work with the camp because of their beloved daughter J. Nuzzo. Many campers that attend Camp Sunshine also attend Camp Snowflake. It is a way for Campers and Volunteers to hold on to the connections they made with each other throughout the entire year. It is often hard to maintain relationships, made during the summer, during the school year because everyone lives in different areas. It is very important to the campers, children and adults, to interact with one another and form bonds and relationships with their age groups as well as people above or below their age groups. When the camp was first founded only campers that attended Camp Sunshine were allowed to enroll in Camp Snowflake, however, in recent years that has changed. Anyone, new or old, can attend Snowflake. The Snowflake program offers a lot of opportunities such as exciting trips and games. Some are new trips each year but some are annual such as, the Bronx zoo trip, the Liberty Science Center, and the movie theater. Each trip is extremely exciting for camper and volunteers as well as staff. During these trips one makes bonds with campers. You find out a lot of information about them such as their likes and dislikes, favorite things, best subjects at school, and their friends and family. When the Snowflake program isn’t involved in their monthly trips they are often involved in a vast array of activities such as arts and crafts, games, bowling, and the mall. All of the activities and arts and crafts have been adapted to fit their needs and to exercise what needs to be worked on. A lot of the arts and crafts have a lot of Occupational Therapy attributes. The activities involve a lot of fine motor skills; such activities that help with these skills are, molding clay, making necklaces with string and beads, and coloring. Fine motor skills can be categorized as movements involving small muscles such as those within your fingers and your eyes. To teach fine motor skills to children one has to be very patient, it doesn’t have over night; it needs practice day after day. Most of the campers obtain this training at school and with their occupational therapists however, it is good to keep the practices going throughout the home and in facilities that the children are also involved in. Some activities include, adaptive bowling, board games, reading books, walks around the duck pond, and playing on the playground.

The Facility

The Duck Pond, that the camp is located in, just built a brand new playground for the town but made a few attributions for camp specifically. The playground was completed in 2007 and they created brand new swings for the camp. These swings are specially designed so that children with poor proprioception and poor muscle tone, which leads to weakened posture, can sit in them with confidence and stability. There are protective straps that hold the camper in. This opens up more doors for wheel chair bound children. They are a very important contribution to the facility; the younger campers love to spend the afternoon at the playground. The floor of the playground has been constructed so that it is wheelchair accessible and so that wheel chairs can easily roll across it. The floor is called Kid Kusion Playground tile, it is special material that is made of used rubber tires. It is a level and resilient surface that, according to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), makes it a wheelchair friendly floor. This wheel chair safe floor is also great for the environment. “Going green” is on everyone’s minds these days. This special rubber is made out of used tires. Therefore, instead of being burnt or dumped into a trash barge and letting off harmful fumes they are constructed into a surface that gives children enjoyment.

Camp Sunshine
The same family founded Camp Sunshine a year before Camp Snowflake in 1960. It is a summer recreational facility for children and adults with multiple disabilities. Camp Sunshine is open from 9:00AM until 3:30PM, Monday to Friday for nine weeks. The Camp begins on the last Monday in June and the last Friday in August. It is very similar to Camp Snowflake except that it is longer and there are a lot more activities to do. Before summer begins the campers are split into groups, little kids, middle kids, older girls, and older boys. This gives staff members a chance to work more one on one with campers. Each group makes a name for themselves at the beginning of the summer and within the first few weeks they create banners, songs, and themes for their specific group. This is very important for bonding and fine motor skills that were talked about earlier. During the summer everyday has a specific theme from magic day, to Olympics week, to group skit day, and emergency services day. These are just examples of the fantastic themes that the camp has to offer. There are certain decade days (eighties day, seventies day) where campers, volunteers, and staff members must dress up according to the day. There is a contest in the morning and whichever camper is best dressed wins points for their group. This is a great way to involve everyone and to gain group spirit. Another attribute that Camp Sunshine has that the Snowflake program doesn’t is the use of the pool. There is an ADA certified pool built with a ramp in the back of the facility. There is pool time at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The groups take turns using it during these times. The camp does a number of activities such as water aerobics, all camp swims, and water basketball. Camp do a lot more activities outside during Sunshine, we also eat lunch outside and provide BBQ’s every other day. Another quality that the Sunshine program offers is the access to vans. They have four wheelchair accessible vans that pick up and drop off campers that can’t be taken, whether they live far away or their guardian’s work. This feature provides the children whose guardians are busy the same opportunities. This relieves a great burden for parents, especially single parent households.

“A Place in the Sun Means Special People”
Fancy equipment and good intentions aren’t what make camp what it is. It is not enough to accomplish the goal that the Nuzzo Family and parents want to accomplish. The campers need a buddy for just them. Volunteers do more than they know for campers. The camp provides a buddy to each camper for one on one supervision and care. The volunteers are truly special people they provide encouragement, assistance, patience, a helping hand, and friendly smile to all. They truly make the summer one to remember. Along with the volunteers there are nurses on hand, lifeguards, and staff members to ensure enthusiasm, experience, and necessary input.

Not Alone
Camp Sunshine and Snowflake aren’t the only camps like this in the nation. Chances are there is one in your neighborhood. I strongly advise you to volunteer at these facilities. Everyone benefits so much from your services, you gain just as much from them as they do from you. These institutions have given people outlooks to their future careers, a sense of not taking anything for granted, and bonds that you’ll cherish for a lifetime.