Summer camps are prepping for opening in the event that they’re allowed to.
What You Need To Know
- Summer camps don’t know if they’ll be able to take place with the NYS Pause
- Some camps are making preparations in the event they can open
- If allowed to open, camps will look a lot different this year
Craig Winter, 10, loves summer camp.
“I love doing the bubble machine, I love ‘Make Your Own Mess,’ and you can eat all the ice cream you want!” Craig says.
He’s attended Camp Good Days for the last five years, and looks forward to it every year.
“I just love getting to see everybody, just having fun, and I love swimming,” he says.
Craig is battling a rare form of spinal and brain cancer, and Camp Good Days is for children like him.
“It’s important for them because they do feel different, their lives are different,” his mother, Kim Winter, says. “What they have in common at their age is sometimes very different than what other kids their age talk about.”
Gary Mervis founded the camp after his own daughter was diagnosed with childhood cancer more than 40 years ago.
“The toughest part of Teddy’s battle wasn’t the surgery, or the radiation, or the chemotherapy. It was the loneliness,” Mervis admits.
But this year, the camp’s fate is uncertain.
“We’ll do something, but it’s been frustrating,” Mervis adds.
They have to wait to hear if the governor will even let camps open in the first place. But if he does, camp will look a lot different.
Instead of beginning at the end of June, it wouldn’t begin until August 1. The stays would be shorter, there would be less children, and multiple safeguards would be put in place such as temperature checks, the elimination of certain activities and masks at all times.
“We want to do everything we can do to make sure their stay at camp is going to be a safe one,” Mervis says.
Sure, Craig would be disappointed if camp wasn’t able to go on, but he understands, and his mother Kim says safety comes first.
“I’d be upset, but I just love going there. It’s a really fun place. And I think he knows they had to cancel. I would understand. We’re understanding and I think the families are understanding,” Winter says.
But no matter what, Camp Good Days will do something to bring a camp experience to these kids, even if it’s virtual.
“We know that however camp comes together, they’re going to do everything in their power to make sure it’s a safe experience,” Winter adds.
— SPECTRUM NEWS ROCHESTER