Archery, canoeing and morning dip

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This article was published 23/07/2022 (1295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For Jason Alexander-Moore, experience, opportunity and growth form the pillars of a healthy childhood. That’s why he can’t wait to send his children to summer camp.

“I loved going to the cabin as a kid, just being outside all the time like we are supposed to be,” Alexander-Moore said.

“I just want them to have the experience… Maybe give them a chance to branch out into different activities they maybe didn’t even know they were interested in,”

His boys, Liam, 14, and Kaleb, 11, will head to Intervarsity Pioneer Camp on Aug. 7.

They will discover archery, canoeing and the shock of the “morning dip,” an Intervarsity tradition Alexander-Moore remembers from when he visited the camp in his youth.

“You get up, you jump in the lake, and then you go back to your cabin and get ready for breakfast,” he said. “It was just fun… I can’t associate camp with anything negative, I mean, maybe I am fortunate, but I had a great time.

The brothers, who have never experienced the excitement of sleepaway camp, are jumping straight into the deep end with a 12-day extended stay at a camp facility on MacKinnon Island. Intervarsity operates the campsite, which is located on Shoal Lake in Ontario.

Sending the boys there would not have been possible without support from the Sunshine Fund, a Manitoba Camping Association program that subsidizes the cost of summer camp for kids, Alexander-Moore said.

For more than four decades, the association and Free Press have collaborated to maintain and promote the fund, which relies heavily on donors. During that time, the joint efforts have sent upwards of 22,000 children to camp.

“It’s fantastic because I don’t think I’d be able to do it without it,” Alexander-Moore said. “If (people) don’t have the means, there’s no harm in applying… if there’s an opportunity for you to do something extra for your children, do it.”

When Liam and Kaleb return home, Alexander-Moore expects the boys will have grown from the experience. Camp gives children the chance to discover themselves, away from the influence of their school peers and parents, he said.

“I think every kid should have the opportunity to go to camp, and being able to access something like the Sunshine Fund gives people that opportunity where they maybe weren’t able to. If you don’t qualify one year, maybe you will the following, so keep trying,” Alexander-Moore said.

People who want to apply to a camp can visit the association website to find links to its accredited camps.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca