Published: June 02, 2009 11:29 pm      

New Camp PARC caters to special-needs children

For 50 years, Camp PARC has been bringing together special-needs individuals and volunteers for a week of fun.

Camp PARC, which stands for People Always Responding with Compassion, is held in Laurel Hill State Park in Somerset.

Its vision is to provide campers with acceptance through socialization with non-handicapped peers.

The camp, which runs from July 26-Aug. 1, now is open only to those 15 and older.

But a new program will cater to younger campers. That camp, scheduled July 19-22, will be geared to children ages 7 to 15 who have special needs, including developmental and intellectual disabilities and those identified through school systems as being eligible for life skills classes.

Held at the same location as Camp PARC, the new “mini-camp” will operate on a smaller scale than the main session.

Ted Risch of Davidsville, camp director and a teacher at North Star Elementary School, said the idea came from parents who wanted a more age-appropriate program.

“The majority of parents did not want to send children into a camp with mostly adults,” he said. “They would love to send their kids to a camp, but would like it to be for kids in their age group.”

The new program will be peer-based, with each camper paired with a non-disabled camper in same age range. Together they will participate in daily activities and be supervised by an older counselor.

David Saylor, 12, son of Diane Conrad and Mark Saylor of Davidsville, will volunteer as a “peer buddy.”

A previous Camp PARC volunteer, the sixth-grader said his role is to help the mentally challenged youngsters feel special.

“It really makes you feel that you’ve done something right and good,” he said. “I think it really helps us and them, too.”

Risch said there has been an enthusiastic response from young people wanting to volunteer for the new camp.

“We have so many that want to be a peer buddy that we had to cut that off and put them on a waiting list,” he said.

Applications for campers are due June 15.

There is a waiting list for the main camp, but openings are available for the new camp.

For an application, call 479-4739 or e-mail campdirector@campparc.org.