Testimonials
Check out what volunteers are saying about their time at camp. Do you have an experience that you’d like to share? E-mail mdyson@mdausa.org.
2008 Volunteer Camp Reflection
This year I had an amazing time at MDA Camp. My camper, Kassidy, is the sweetest, most amazing 13-year-old I know. I love you Kassidy! I love writing about MDA Camp, but, let’s face it: I don’t know what to say! There are no words that do it justice!
It’s sad, but the truth is, many kids with MD are known only for their disability. It’s a hard world, and some people don’t understand how to look past the outward appearance. I know sometimes caretakers treat children with disabilities like they’re a burden, but I assure you, that is the opposite of who they are! My life would not be the same without Dallin, without JT or Logan or Kassidy. MDA Camp is full of the best people you’ll ever meet.
MDA Camp is a place where kids can forget their disabilities and be known for who they are inside. I know many campers who look forward to camp all year long because it’s where they are understood. It’s amazing how MDA Camp effects my brother Dallin. At home he’s very shy and talks very little. When he gets to camp, nothing can hold him back! He’s open and active, flirty and talkative…because he feels accepted.
Dallin is 15 and has been attending camp for 4 or 5 years. I wish he’d begun attending sooner–He loves it! Dallin has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. As a young child, he could walk and run just like the other kids. As he got older, he slowly began to lose the use of his muscles. He’s now in a wheelchair and can only lift the lower part of his arms.. He has struggled through depression, teasing, and loneliness. But he is not alone. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of kids live the same way all across the U.S. alone. That’s why camp is so essential. Camp is where they can come together, help each other, and show their individuality.
Every camp needs leaders and counselors. Sometimes people are paid to do these things, but not at MDA Camp…at least not in money. MDA camp is held together by volunteers and donators. Volunteers who love MDA Camp as much as the campers do! It’s hard, selfless, very rewarding work. I would say anyone can volunteer for camp. All you have to do is give your all for someone else’s happiness. I’ll tell you this from first-hand experience and observation: if you, the volunteer, go just for yourself, it will be tough and you may not make it through. On the other hand, if you go because you want to make it the best week of your camper’s life, and give of yourself completely, it may be very hard, but you will gain more than you ever gave.
Now for this year. Many of you may know about the recent change in MDA Camp rules: the new cut-off age is 18, which means there were more final-year attendees this year than usual. It was amazing what I saw, between the laughter and the tears, how everyone came together, even more than before, to make this the best year yet. I feel at home at MDA Camp and I know the campers do as well.
~Krista Housley
2007 Camp
“There is No Other Place Like MDA Camp”
This is all so weird. I feel like I’ve been gone for months…when in reality it’s barely been a week. I just got back from heaven, from perfect bliss. I know that sounds all super-ficial and cheesey, but I’m serious. I was happy. I didn’t feel depressed once. I was consumed with a perfect joy…the joy of serving others. If any of you have ever worked long and hard serving others, you may find it easier to understand what I’m saying.
MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) Summer Camp is an escape. For one week, you have absolutely no cares or problems except making sure your camper has fun and gets enough to eat. I forgot about my life, I forgot about me. I only cared about that darling, shy, 6-year-old little boy who I was put in charge of. Well, ok…I also cared about the other 75+ campers there, including my brother, Dallin. What I’m trying to say is that, for one week, camp was all that mattered. I really, truly, was carefree. It’s a place where you can let go and just have fun.
Now, that’s not to say it’s easy. Volunteering for MDA Camp is one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. It’s physically, mentally, and psychologically exhausting. Many, if not all, of the campers are very difficult to care for. I’m am DRAINED, but I’ve never been happier. It’s very hard, but perhaps that only adds to the joy.
I don’t know what it is exactly that makes MDA Camp specifically so special (other than the service). Perhaps it was the talent show. I cannot tell my feelings, but let me describe the scene. Picture this: A crowded ballroom full of people…people clapping, cheering for that small girl–no older than 10–with pink socks and pony-tails as she dances in her wheelchair, a grin radiating her face. Or maybe they’re cheering for Jason, the boy who recently lost both his brother and sister to the same disease that now confines him to a wheelchair, as he plays a song he wrote on the guitar.
Then there was Julia. The bright, spunky little blond girl shakily ascended the stage, almost falling over, to grace us with her angelic voice. “I’d rather be anything but ordinary, please!” she sang, proud and true. She doesn’t need the world to accept her, but she’s already won their hearts.
And you realize…these kids are “Anything but ordinary.” They are more, and this camp gives them the chance to shine. You can see the happiness in their eyes. They feel their worth. They are loved.
Or maybe it’s the people…campers and volunteers alike. The directors, the group-leaders, who immerse themselves completely in the well-being of others.
It’s interesting…everywhere I go, there are nice people and rude people, happy and sad, pure good and pure evil…not at MDA Camp. Every single person there is among the best. Not one volunteer is negative or mean.
They are ALL amazing, ALL angels from heaven. I’ve never met so many great people in such a small, concentrated area. I feel so confined…I wish I could say how I feel…but it’s one of those things that cannot be said.
The only way to know is to experience it first hand.
There is no other place like MDA Camp. There is nothing that compares with it. I wish I could let the world know how I feel, but I am limited to words.
~Krista Housley
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