N.B. summer camp for people with disabilities cancels summer season

A popular summer camp in New Brunswick has decided to cancel its season due to COVID-19 despite the province reopening the economy.

Camp Rotary, which is operated by Easter Seals, is based on Grand Lake and serves people with disabilities. It has been running for more than 65 years.

Camp director Matthew Jay says it was a difficult decision.

"It is probably one of the hardest decisions I've made in my life, knowing that we have over 400 campers a year and over 45 staff," he said.

The province is in the second phase of reopening since the COVID-19 shutdown.

Jay said it would be too difficult to maintain physical distancing at Camp Rotary.

"Individuals with autism, however functioning they are, might not understand that … 'I can't go visit my friend in that other cabin because they're a different cabin group,'" he said.

"At that point we start trying to police behaviours and that's not what we're about."

Camp Rotary's season would typically start in June and run until August. 

There were more than 300 people registered for the coming season. Jay said refunds will be issued.

Virtual camp

Jay said some of the campers are disappointed, but there's also understanding and support from families.  

The season is not a complete writeoff. According to Jay, staff are planning to host virtual camp activities — including campfires on livestream. 

Jay said they are also hoping to find ways to incorporate crafts and weekly talent shows online, too. 

Camp Rotary had 43 people hired for this summer's camp — mostly students. Jay said it's not clear how many people they will be able to hire. 

"We are waiting for confirmation on some provincial and federal grants to see how many we can still employ," Jay said. 

"We're going to have a very bare bones crew comparatively to what we were looking at this year."

The people who get hired will be working to host the virtual camp, while others will help with some renovations to the camp at Grand Lake.