Double Dose of Summer Camp Fun

Jackson’s Point, Ont.— They may look alike but twins Junae and Junel, 9, don’t always like the same things at camp.
Junel prefers arts and crafts, while her sister leans toward hardier activities like swimming and the high ropes course.
Junel is a big fan of the spaghetti and meatballs. Junae is a connoisseur of the vegetable soup. The secret to both is that they’re made with love.

Good thing there’s something for everyone at the Salvation Army Jackson’s Point camp, where programs include music, sports and swimming.

“Last year, I made a slipper in crafts,” said Junae, who along with her sister is back at camp for the third time. This summer she hopes to make another blinged out slipper covered in glitzy beads and bows. That way she’ll have a pair for her room.
Junel, on the other hand, wants to improve her front crawl in the pool and reach the top of the high ropes course.

The girls, who live in Scarborough, are of one mind when it comes to camp friends and are planning to create friendship bracelets from plastic laces as gifts.

“Good camp friends like playing with you and care for you,” said Junae.

“They’re kind and understand you,” added Junel.

Every summer, the Jackson’s Point camp, one of the Salvation Army Ontario Camp Ministries day and residential camps, is home to hundreds of youngsters, many of them urban kids who may not otherwise have the opportunity to get out in the fresh air, meet new friends and learn new skills while having fun.

And this is where the Fresh Air Fund helps, by subsidizing camp fees where most needed to ensure children who need a break, get it.
“Camp transforms lives,” said Captain Stephen White, a divisional youth secretary at the Salvation Army and a fifth generation Salvationist.

“To see the connections between the campers and their cabin leaders ….is truly a joyous moment.”

By Leslie Ferenc
Staff reporter
Reprinted with permission – Torstar Syndication Services