Published: May 23, 2009 08:32 pm      

Camp-4-Kids program to begin in just a few weeks

guest column

The snow is gone, flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and The Salvation Army summer camp is already in full swing.

Applications for families who wish to send their kids to camp can be obtained from your local Salvation Army office. A week of fun in the sun, and all kinds of adventures from hiking to the cross on top of the hill, playing ball or swimming in a state-of-the-art pool await the children of our area.

This camping experience is provided free of charge to the disenfranchised and less fortunate of our community. The application process starts when interested parents or guardians come to The Salvation Army and obtain an application. The completed application, along with a copy of the child’s report card, is then returned to The Salvation Army office for processing. All applications will be considered, on a first-come first-served basis. The purpose of the report card is to ensure that the children we send to our camp in Hedgesville are able to behave in a group setting, so that all children who come to this camp will be afforded the maximum opportunity to have a wonderful, fun time.

As you can imagine, the children who attend our camp are very excited to get this opportunity. Their trip begins with boarding the bus or van that takes them to Camp Tomahawk in the Eastern Panhandle. The ride is certainly part of the fun that the children will experience on their week of camp. The children come from all kinds of families. Some come from broken homes as well as foster homes, others whose families are intact. Each of them desires one thing, and that is to know that they can just play and be a child.

When I think of this one week of time I am reminded that these children who will play and make friends, and partake of the wonderful food we all call “camp food,” I am reminded that without the donors that give willingly this all couldn’t happen.

It is truly amazing to me that the donors to our camp program faithfully allow us to make camp possible for so many children of our community. These days times are hard, and many families who used to donate to The Salvation Army are now recipients of our services.

We expect this summer that we will have the opportunity to send at least 60 children to camp. There is no cost to the recipient, but as you can imagine, there is a cost to make this happen. The Salvation Army in southern West Virginia will spend $250 per child for one week of camp. When I think of the cost, and the way the current economic situation has impacted The Salvation Army, I am reminded that we serve a God that always provides, and he has done so through the wonderful people of this great community.

I thank you for reading this column and ask you to pray for God’s provision of the needed funds for this camping year.

The counties served by The Salvation Army of southern West Virginia are Raleigh, Fayette, Wyoming, Nicholas, Webster, Pocahontas, and Greenbrier, so no matter what county you live in you can help send a child to camp this year.

Donations can be sent to The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 1573, Beckley, WV, 25801. Please be sure to note its for camp in the memo line and mention your county if you would like.

— Capt. Bob Cornett and his wife Julie are the chief corps officers for The Salvation Army headquarters in Beckley.