Overnight camps going online this summer
Sandra Abma | CBC News | Posted: May 21, 2020 8:00 AM | Last Updated: May 21, 2020
Organizers scrambling to offer virtual programs after camps cancelled due to COVID-19
Ottawa-area summer camps for children with physical disabilities or from low-income households say they're devastated they'll have to remain closed this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but are hoping to keep the camp experience alive virtually.
On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the province is cancelling all overnight camps this summer, including Easter Seals Camp Merrywood, Christie Lake Kids and Tim Hortons Foundation Camps.
Those specialty summer camps will go ahead online instead.
We know this isn't a replacement for a summer camp experience. - Natalie Benson, Christie Lake Kids
"It's tough because it's not a replacement for camp," said Camp Merrywood director Kate Goodfellow. "We hope by offering a virtual platform we can keep the campers connected to each other and keep them connected to elements of the camp tradition they get excited about year over year."
Since 1948, Camp Merrywood has been welcoming children with a wide range of physical disabilities to Big Rideau Lake. This year, close to 400 children and youth were expected to stay at the sleepover camp.
Even before the Ford announcement, organizers had decided to suspend the camp and offer a virtual substitute because of the pandemic, Goodfellow said.
Zoom campfires
"We know how much our campers look forward to camp every year," Goodfellow said. "We provide them with opportunities they've never had before, experiences they don't have access to in their everyday life."
She said the online camp will include programs in arts and crafts, games, sports and drama. A virtual campfire will allow campers to sing along via the meeting app Zoom.
The children who looked forward to attending Tim Hortons Foundations Camps will be encouraged to join the "Tims eCamp" instead. The Foundation is still in the process of developing the program for kids from low-income families, but said a variety of online activities will be led by camp counsellors.
Katie Wheatley, chief youth officer for Tim Hortons Foundation Camps, said the online program hopes to reach up to 6,000 kids this summer.
"We're leveraging different wage subsidies through the federal government right now including the Canada summer job program to ensure that we're able to hire young adults who can fill that camp counsellor role and be able to connect with our kids at about a one to 10 or one to 20 ratio."
Camp in a box
For the first time in 98 years, Christie Lake Kids, a camp that gives kids from low-income backgrounds the opportunity to enjoy two weeks of camp activities, won't be hosting children at Christie Lake near Perth, Ont.
Natalie Benson, the camp's director of fundraising, said the decision to pull the plug was "gut-wrenching" because children tell her those two weeks are "the highlight of the entire year."
Benson said she personally made calls to the families who had enrolled their children to tell them about the cancellation, "and it was really hard to hear their struggles and the things they are going through because of the pandemic."
More than 300 children who were signed up for the summer will instead receive a "camp in a box" filled with games, art supplies, recipes and other suggested activities.
Camp counsellors will hold craft-making sessions, drama classes and science experiments on Zoom on a daily basis.
Benson said kids will be encouraged to take part in physical activities such as scavenger hunts and exercise programs to keep them off the couch.
"We know this isn't a replacement for a summer camp experience," Benson said. "We just hope that it will help the kids and their families to enjoy a little bit of what they're missing."