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As these words are penned, 120 girls living with chronic illness and medical challenges are packing their suitcases, exchanging addresses and phone numbers, and preparing to leave Camp Simcha Special, their refuge from a world where illness makes them different.

“The end of a camp session is always sad, but for the children of Camp Simcha Special, the end of camp means leaving a very special world for another year,” explained Rabbi Simcha Scholar, executive vice president of Chai Lifeline, the organization that runs Camp Simcha/Camp Simcha Special. “Camp Simcha is an environment filled with love and acceptance. Its facilities are adapted to their needs, so they are no longer on the outside looking in. For many of our campers, it’s the only place where they feel they can truly be themselves.”

The two-week respite allows campers, who range in age from 8 to 18, to emerge from their shells, try new activities, build new skills, and make friends with whom to share the challenges of their lives. Aided by trained counselors and specialists, campers learn that they can do anything to which they set their minds. For some, it’s learning to swim. For others, it is performing in front of their peers as part of camp shows. Still others enhance skills in creative arts, music, or sports.

The camp’s administrative staff works year-round to find special activities that can be adapted for children whose abilities may be compromised. This year, campers competed in a “Tough Mudder” built just for them. Counselors helped children complete the obstacle course that included scaling an incline, walking the plank, and slogging through inches of mud. The camp’s water-submersible wheelchairs, which can be hosed down after use, were pressed into service so that even the most compromised children could participate.

Campers were eager to describe the course to a visitor. “The mud was so fun. I never did that before,” said a young girl. “We couldn’t stop laughing,” added another.

Each year, the camp staff chooses a theme that anchors the session and every day. This year, camp emulated the colors of the rainbow, and every day the entire camp changed hues. Girls would wake up to a dining hall bathed in the day’s color, often reflected in the color of their counselors’ hair or their own painted faces.

“Oh, let me guess! It’s Green Day!” cried an alumna who came to share in a special visiting day for former staff members. She hugged the campers she met on the way to the camp Carnival. Tour de Simcha cyclists, who raised almost $1 million for Chai Lifeline’s children, rode through the camp gates and into Camp Simcha special on Pink Day. From above, the entrance plaza was a sea of pink punctuated by the jewel tones of cyclists’ jerseys.

While there are things to do throughout the day and evening, sometimes the most important interactions come during the down time when children and their counselors relax and talk. Last year, Camp Simcha built a hammock park in the midst of a copse of trees. Situated in the intersection of two main camp walks, it has become a favorite destination for breaks and talks that range from the silly to the profound.

“Camp Simcha Special is a good place for kids to talk about what’s going on in their minds,” commented a counselor. “There’s an openness and acceptance here that they don’t find anywhere else.”

As they prepare to say goodbye, campers agreed on what they would miss most about their magical reprieve from their everyday lives. “Everything!” they said. “We will miss every part of Camp Simcha Special!”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)