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Lorain United Methodist Ministries Camp I.D.E.A.S.
8/2010 – Camp I.D.E.A.S. is a month long summer academic program for children with special needs in the Lorain area. Established in 1988, the camp was created to provide special needs children with the same summertime activities as what their typical peers receive in a safe, educational, and fun-filled environment.
In March 2010, The Stocker Foundation awarded $11,250 to Camp I.D.E.A.S. toward the 2010 summer camp. This summer, Camp I.D.E.A.S. gave 108 children a fun and educational way to spend part of their summer. It also provided a link between the school years by promoting learning in the month of July.
Each of the four weeks of camp has its own theme by which the activities for the week are focused around. This year’s themes included the reading process, numbers and number sense, citizenship, and science. With a daily schedule including practice in following directions, counting and math, calendar skills, reading, speech therapy, and organized games and music, the children at Camp I.D.E.A.S. are given the structured environment they need to grow and learn over the course of the summer.
The volunteers and donations help take the camp to the next level by providing fun activities for the kids. The Avon YMCA provided a swim party at the local school and Bits-N-Spurs 4-H club brought small animals and horses to the camp where children learned how to ride and handle the animals safely.
The camp also employs six aids with special needs that assisted in everything from custodial tasks to secretarial work to keep the camp running smoothly. The drive and hard work of these young people were an inspiration to the rest of the staff.
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