July 7-10 marked another successful session of southside camp at the Joseph Sams School in Fayetteville.  Armed with 26 campers, incredible therapists, group and activity leaders, energetic volunteers and extra special nurse, Sharon Sharp, the week was filled with arts and crafts, music, water play, sports, pizza relay, gardening and much more.  Helena Fickling, who has been attending camp for several years said, “I Played Relay with Some Friends. I like the some mores. My favorite thing at Kool Kidz Camp was Slip and Slide.  I Enjoyed The Slip And Slide. I made Necklaces With Allie And Mathew And Maria.”
 
Heather Kontos, a physical therapist who had participated in many of the Foundation’s programs and has been at camp for three years explains that “Kool Kidz camp is a great experience for all! I've been at camp 3 years now and I find that every year we go a little further! It is awesome to see kids of all levels of abilities having a great time together, watching a child with a disability shine with pride as he or she participates an activity with a sibling, seeing a typical child work side by side with a wheelchair bound child to complete a task, and seeing our younger counselors gain an understanding that kids are kids regardless of level of ability!  Kool Kidz camp breaks down boundaries and exemplifies why I became a physical therapist.”

A special addition this year was a dance session taught by Douglas Scott of Full Radius Dance.  According to Mr. Scott, “Full Radius Dance explores, through modern dance, the sweep of the human experience in a world that contains a diversity of attitudes, actions and outcomes. We reflect this diversity through programs designed to involve broad sections of our community with a particular emphasis on persons with disabilities. . .  Through this process, Full Radius Dance affects positive change for persons with disabilities, dance artists and the general community." The children danced their way around the room, utilizing hula hoops, partners and group dance methods. 

The week was filled with wonderous smiles and newly formed friendships.  Oleg Borunov, a camp volunteer and parent of twins Alex and Max said, “my barely verbal kids at this time still smile and sing along the camp song.  Their daycare   teacher and therapist noticed better spoon control and other more independent tendancies in Alex- WOW!. Max is also ... singing "If you’re happy" much much much louder now.” 

Stephanie Stiltz, the camp’s music leader and returning counselor for the past few years summed it up perfectly when she said, “there are no words to describe camp.  Coming back year and year and watching the kids grow, you just can’t help but gain a new understanding and love for them.“  Similar feelings were felt by first time activity leader Amelia King, who said “this was my first experience working with the Kool Kidz organization, and I had an amazing week at camp that exceeded my expectations. It is incredible how many "life lessons" you can learn from the campers in four short days. I can't stop thinking about one of the campers in particular who would go out of his way to help anyone in need, and overall, the spirit of the campers was inspiring. 

We want to thank all of our wonderful volunteers and camp staff for their time and energy!  We could not run our camp program without the dedication of all who participated in the camp program. A special thank you goes to Marie Sams and the staff at the Joseph Sams School who graciously allowed us to use the school for the summer camp session.  We also want to thank Subway, Arby’s Partner’s Pizza and Chick-Fil-A for donating 100% of the food for our volunteers and staff lunches.