Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 215
The Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp offers inclusive summer camp experiences for all children regardless of their abilities. Founded in 2010 by mothers of children with autism, the camp has grown to serve approximately 40 children from three school districts with professional staff and community support.
• Started in 2010 by mothers who wanted camp experiences for their children with autism
• Serves children ages 5 through high school with and without special needs
• Accommodates visible and invisible disabilities including autism, anxiety, TBI, and ADHD
• Staffed by certified teachers, paraprofessionals, and ABA providers
• Runs six weeks during summer from 8am-4pm at Marlette Elementary
• Partners with community organizations like Beach Museum and the library
• Plans special events including sensory-friendly movie outings
• Currently in its 13th year with the potential to serve 44 children
• Welcomes new camper registrations throughout the summer
• Relies on community support and fundraisers to provide scholarships and activities
Visit flinthillssummerfuncamp.com to register your child or find information about supporting the camp. Join their fundraiser tonight at Raising Cane's from 3-10pm!
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. Welcome back to the GMCF Community Hour here on NewsRadio KMAN. And one of the great organizations in our community that has a fascinating start is the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp. The camp director is Sarah Bennett. This camp got started today and she's already got some youngsters in the background. So in case you're wondering who those kid-like voices are, it's not Sarah's, but Sarah. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Good morning. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Well, let's talk a bit about what the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp is. Tell us how you got started and what all you do.
Speaker 2:So Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp started back in 2010. There was a group of moms who had children with special needs autism specifically that wanted their kids to be able to experience camp-like activities during the summer just like everybody else. The difference is, when you have a child who has special needs, they also need additional support and not all of the camps in our area can provide that or allow outside services to come in to support those kids. So we've grown over the years We've added teachers, we've added paras, we've added other volunteers. This year we have an ABA provider services at Astra who is working with us as well to ensure that the kids who want and need the opportunities are able to come and experience those opportunities. So we serve kids age five through high school and we take kids with and without needs. We're just open to everybody. Everybody should have an opportunity to come and enjoy summer activities.
Speaker 1:And what you know. A lot of people may not understand what a wide array of challenges that some of your campers have when they walk in the door because you've got a lot of kids that come in to live a fun week or so, whatever the case may be, and you know, it's very impactful on them.
Speaker 2:That is correct, and sometimes challenges or disabilities are visual. So we do have some children who have, like, motor movement impairments and they may need braces or they may need crutches or they may need canes or additional supports. We have kids here who have visual challenges. We have kids here who have hearing impairments. We have students who have those types of disabilities that you may not see. So anxiety disorders, traumatic brain injuries, depression in children, ADHD those types of things you don't see on them but they impact them tremendously. And having a camp with providers, with support personnel and staff that understand you know you might need a break when somebody else doesn't need a break, or you might need something presented a little bit different so that you can understand what it is you're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1:What is involved with the organization itself and obviously, as camp director, there's some staffing that's involved, but a lot of volunteers, and so let's visit a little bit about the people that make this happen.
Speaker 2:Well, the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation is one of the people that help make this happen as a support for us and helping us by letting us have this radio spot and getting the news out. High Tech Interiors is another support in the community. We have a fundraiser tonight at Raising Cane's that will help get the word out and we're planning on having some others within the community. But, you know, people with the library, with Parks and Rec, the transportation department, through the school district, they help us, you know, move all these with Parks and Rec, the Transportation Department, through the school district, they help us, you know, move all these experiences within the community.
Speaker 1:How about staffing and volunteers? What does that makeup look like? Having a little bit of technical difficulty here with Sarah Bennett. She is joining us here on behalf today of the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp and talking a little bit. There we are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've lost you for about 30, 40 seconds or so there, Sarah. Oh no, I apologize.
Speaker 1:That's all right. That's all right. The question that I asked. Yeah, the question that I asked was you know what is the makeup of the people that make the camp run? You know, in terms of staff and volunteers?
Speaker 2:So we've got a director, we've got a financial provider that helps us with that. We got somebody that helps us with like media, the social media page, getting the website updated and helping us with the Facebook page, and then the certified teachers and paras that work with us.
Speaker 1:So this is. I think you told me beforehand, before we got on the air, that today's day one of the camp.
Speaker 2:Today is day one, that is correct, and we have three groups running. We have nearly all of our kids who had registered have come, and that's you know. That's always something that happens. Sometimes parents will register for camp and then something changes, or maybe a child is out ill and so they're not here yet. But we do have room and we will continue to take kids.
Speaker 2:If you'd like to register for our camp, if you don't have something else going on and you want to come check us out, today is day one. We are located at Marlette Elementary School and so you can come by and you can talk to us, or you can meet us at Raising Cane's tonight for a fundraiser. We'll be there from three to 10. And some of our staff will be in and out. I can't guarantee somebody will be there all the way until 10 o'clock, but we'll definitely be there for a good chunk of that time and you could kind of meet us. If you have questions about what's involved in camp or how to get involved with us, you can always reach out to us there. You can always email us. Check out our website flintandhillsummerfundcampcom.
Speaker 1:All right, Sarah. How long does the camp last?
Speaker 2:Six weeks. We are here until July 11th and we are here from 8 to 4. There will be no camp on July 4th for the holiday. Marlette is a feed site, so if kids come at eight o'clock in the morning they can have breakfast here before camp begins. They can have lunch here and we have some parents that will send a snack for the afternoon and we just we keep the kids busy. We partner with the Beach Museum. They're here this morning doing visual training strategies for our kids. We partner with the library we will see them next week and we just have. We have a lot of fun things going. You know drama. We've got some Lego therapy going on this year, so it should be a lot of fun. You can always check out our Facebook page. Over the next few days We'll get some pictures posted so you can see what we're all about.
Speaker 1:I know that there's one organization in particular that you've worked with that is making an event happen, and I think this is going to be an exciting opportunity for your campers, and that includes a movie that and what do you call it? A sensory movie.
Speaker 2:It was a sensory movie. So the Pilot Club of Manhattan was very generous with a donation to camp for our activities this year and with part of the money that they provided we have rented a theater on the 18th to take the entire camp to a sensory movie. We will have the whole theater to ourselves, so they will leave some of the lights on and they will turn some of the sounds down so that it's more sensory friendly for all of our campers to be able to enjoy a movie just like anybody else could do.
Speaker 1:Do they get popcorn?
Speaker 2:They can get popcorn, they can get a drink, they could do candy, they could get lots of things.
Speaker 1:See, those are the sensory things that are important to me.
Speaker 2:It's a movie without popcorn.
Speaker 1:It's not a movie if it doesn't have popcorn. I mean, you can't go to a ball game, a football, a baseball game without having a hot dog or some peanuts. It's just. That's just the way it is Popcorn and movie.
Speaker 2:You can't come to camp without having fun. So if you'd like to have some fun, you're welcome to come and join us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now I understand that you have a number of community events and you yeah, now I understand that you have a number of community events and you talked about the pilot club, raising the money for the sensory movie. Shout out to them, and I know that there are a lot of other organizations that help out, but there are events that you have in the rest of the year to help support your camp.
Speaker 2:Yes, so we always do take donations. We have fundraisers that we will put out through our website or through our Facebook page where community members can connect with us or parents can connect with us, because we cannot do this without community support. We have been truly very lucky to be connected with the community and have Camp Run for as long as it has and to grow to this level, and we just hope that we can continue to do that and meet the needs of the children in the area. We do not only serve Manhattan students. We have students from three different school districts here this summer.
Speaker 1:Now you are a part of the 100 groups that also benefit from Grow Green Match Day here through the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. What does that mean to the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp?
Speaker 2:We will be oh you will be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we kind of missed out on that opportunity to participate this year, but we are working towards that and that will mean that we will have that financial support and backing to offer scholarships to kids, to help pay for the support providers that come in and work with the kids, to continue to provide community activities that are desperately needed for these kids to be able to go out and do the things that they would not normally be able to do and so that the community knows that we're here and we're. You know we're doing this, we're doing this together. We all need each other's support.
Speaker 1:Bennett is the camp director for Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp and Sarah, I know that almost anybody that is involved in a nonprofit entity, such as the camp or any of the others that we have here in the community, there's a personal tie that brought to that individual into that particular entity. What's your backstory on getting involved in the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp?
Speaker 2:So this is year 13 for me. I came as an ABA provider to support a child who had never been able to go to any kind of other camp opportunity and the director here at the time said yes. And the director here at the time said, yes, let's try this. And we did it. And so for about three years I came as an ABA provider supporting the kids at camp, and then I moved into a para position. I was at that point a para through the school district and so being a para for camp just seemed to fit.
Speaker 2:And then, when I got my teaching degree, I teach during the school year special education, and so I teach special education during the summer at camp. And two years ago the opportunity opened up. The then current director needed to step down and so I stepped up, and this is is where my heart is. I only want to continue to watch this grow and thrive. We we're looking at potentially 40 44 kids this summer that will be able to serve, and I would just love to see that number continue to grow, you know.
Speaker 1:Well, we wish you'd continued success in your efforts here, as you bring a bunch of happiness, a lot of fun and joy to not only the kids but to their families as well. And I know that you know when the Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp started with Kristen Brighton gosh that seems like such a long time ago and how that impacted her son and her family. I know that that is something that was truly special for them and all the others that have gone through the program since.
Speaker 2:We just want to continue to do the good work that was started and make sure that we're able to reach all of those who can benefit.
Speaker 1:Sarah Bennett is her name. She's the camp director of Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp. That is the website, flinthillssummerfuncampcom If you'd like to find out more information. Yes, you can still get a youngster that's in your life involved and give them an opportunity to have a lot of fun and make it a meaningful summer for for everybody involved. Sarah, thanks for joining us again. Continued good wishes to you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, you have a good day.
Speaker 1:I'm planning on. I'm having a great day because I get to do the GMCF community Raising canes for dinner tonight. Oh, thank you for that final plug. Let's do that again. That's from three to 10, correct, Sarah?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, and camp shirts this year are bright orange, so you won't miss us.
Speaker 1:Okay, raising Cane's is the place to be. Good last minute plug. Way to jump in there. High fives through Zoom Vern is back in the studio. We're going to talk about some things that are happening in the community, and there is a lot of them, because, you know, here during the summertime, just things seem to pop up. They just seem to pop up. The GMCF Community Hour is back in just a couple of moments. Once again, you can always find out more about the Community Foundation's work at mcfksorg. Back in a moment.