Catholic Charities Providing Help. Creating Hope.

Summer camp for low-income families
needs community support

By Judy Bokorney
Web Site Editor

Fort Myers—Every Spring the staff of the Haitian Center of Catholic Charities trustingly prepares for another exciting Summer Youth Camp for about 40 low-income children, even though the funding and volunteers for the program are not yet in place. They count on the generosity of the community.

In order to make the camp accessible to these children it must be affordable. The $150 fee for 10 weeks of daily camp does not begin to cover the costs of nutritious food, field trips, activities, special projects and even summer tutoring.

“The program goes on but you don’t always know if the money will be there,” said Pierrette Faustin, program director of the Haitian Center of Catholic Charities. “The summer camp depends on donations and volunteers.”

Faustin added, “I pray a lot.”

The goal of the Summer Youth Camp is to offer a safe environment that includes education and fun for children, who have few options for how they will spend their few months off from school.

“This camp is very important. Many of these children would otherwise stay home by themselves and some would get into trouble,” Faustin said. “Most children who attend the camp are not legally old enough to stay home alone. The parents depend heavily on us to offer the Summer Youth Camp every year,” she said.

Summer Youth Camp 2007 is looking for donations to provide four healthy meals for the children every day—breakfast, lunch and two snacks. Part of the daily routine also features a field trip to area attractions such as museums, parks, libraries, the zoo, movies, ice-skating, the water park, bowling and more. Donations and/or sponsors are needed to provide these stimulating activities for the campers.

The camp runs Mondays through Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from May 30 to August 2. “We are in need of volunteers to help us supervise the children,” Faustin said. The Haitian Center prefers to provide a one adult to five children ratio at the camp. Volunteers can work flexible hours and days, with a minimum of two hours at a time.

The children create special projects for Father’s Day and the Fourth of July, have Sudoku contests, and read or are read to every day, Faustin said. Children who are behind in school also receive tutoring.

“The last day of camp is especially exciting for the children,” Faustin said. That day, called “Family Day”, the entire family of the camper goes on a field trip to a theme park together. “The children really look forward to spending the day having fun with their parents,” she said.

Anyone interested in donating to or volunteering for the Summer Youth Camp 2007 at the Haitian Center of Catholic Charities, please call 239-334-2234.

Photo: Children attending the Haitian Center of Catholic Charities Summer Youth Camp learn about snakes at the Naples Zoo.