Building confidence at first camp

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This article was published 27/07/2019 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Rebecca Norman was young, she once had the opportunity to visit Camp Arnes. The experience was so significant, she wanted to make sure her five children would have such a place to look forward to in the summer.

As the kids grew older, they began spending their summers at camp. Norman’s oldest child, Payton Mitchell, now works at Camp Arnes as a councillor and watched over her two young brothers — seven-year-old Ben and six-year-old Sam — during their first time away from home.

“That really made all the difference,” Norman said.

“I don’t think they would have gone alone, they probably would have waited a few years, and who knows even then if they would have gone? So it’s nice to have them together.”

The siblings have been able to attend camp thanks to the Winnipeg Free Press Sunshine Fund, which assists low-income families. Over the past 40 years, the Sunshine Fund has sent more than 26,000 children to camp.

This year, to date, funding has been allocated to help 590, just short of its goal of 650.

The Sunshine Fund relies on donations and grants to subsidize camp expenses for children. Applications are available on the Manitoba Camping Association website, which processes funding requests on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Based on the Statistics Canada’s low-income chart, a family could be eligible for up to $700 per child, per year in assistance. A qualifying family would then be able to send their child to one of 31 camps across the province.

Although her oldest child has become a well-seasoned camper, Norman said she was a bit nervous to send her boys away from home — as they have only had overnight visits with relatives before.

“It was definitely more nerve-racking for Benjamin. He’s autistic and extremely shy, very scared of new people, so we weren’t sure if he would stay or not,” Norman said.

“But having his sister at the camp and brother in the same room was super helpful for him and, boy, did he come out of his shell. They loved every minute of it.”

During the two-night stay at Camp Arnes, the boys went ziplining, rock climbing, swimming, and sang songs by the campfire.

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Norman said she has already seen personal growth in her children.

“It really helps with social skills, especially my little autistic boy, he’s definitely come out of his shell a lot since going to camp and I can tell there’s a lot more confidence in his abilities,” she said.

While Norman said she is grateful organizations such as the Sunshine Fund exist, she knows it wouldn’t be possible without the help of generous people. “We definitely have a charitable community in Winnipeg and in Manitoba,” she said.

“It’s just so wonderful to be able to give these little guys a place to grow, you know? With the technology and how busy people are, the fact that kids are still able to get out and into the fresh air and do kid activities in the summer is wonderful.”

nadya.pankiw@freepress.mb.ca

Nadya Pankiw
Multimedia producer

Nadya Pankiw is a multimedia producer at the Free Press. Nadya holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University and a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University.  She joined the paper in 2020. Read more about Nadya.

Nadya is part of a team that curates and publishes journalism on our websites, apps and social media. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.