Camp ReCreation changes lives

Growing up, I have always admired and looked up to my sister, Chelsea Roshau. She had been volunteering at Camp ReCreation since 2005 and has been on the board of directors for nine years. Along with volunteering her time for this summer camp, she pursued a career that would allow her to have a job working with the people who made her the happiest. I saw the tremendous joy that Camp ReCreation gave her that I decided to give it a try. Fast forward seven years and here I am looking forward each summer for Camp ReCreation to arrive.

So many people remind us volunteers that we are changing the lives of those who attend camp but, in all reality, they are the ones changing us. They show us how truly amazing God’s gifts are to us, in particular, all the gifts that we take for granted. Though they might not run as fast as us, talk as easy as us, read as well as us, they definitely do one thing better than us, and that is how they love. I think that is the main reason that keeps me coming back each year. From the hundreds of hugs that are exchanged, constant smiles from ear to ear and the friendships that we will cherish forever, Camp ReCreation is that place that makes me the happiest.

Other than the love that Camp ReCreation gives to all volunteers, it also provides us with so many core values. At camp, we learn patience, respect, communication, listening skills, compassion, responsibility, cooperation and gratitude. For me in particular, Camp ReCreation has also helped me in determining my career path. I knew from the second that I left my first week of camp that helping people was how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I decided to further my education by attending the University of Mary pursuing a major in speech pathology. God gives us gifts and, for me being a very vocal person, I knew that I need to help those who have a hard time using their own voice. For me to be able to be the sunlight in someone's life is all that I could ask for and at Camp ReCreation that is the constant feeling that I receive.

Camp ReCreation has truly opened my eyes to the world around me and how everyday is a gift. It showed me how to find the beautiful in everyone we meet, to not be so quick to judge but rather to find the strengths that everyone of us has. The quality of life isn’t determined by what appears on the surface, but what values we hold in our heart. I found myself and learned the importance of who I was meant to be now and in the future from opening my heart to this camp. Please consider giving a week or two out of your summer to volunteer at Camp ReCreation, I promise you will be changed for the better. As the camp’s theme, I challenge you to “Dare to Care!”

Camp ReCreation is held in Richardton annually in June. This camp, dedicated to serving people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, is open two weeks—June 9-13 and June 16-21. For more information, visit www.camprecreationnd.com, call 701-974-3774 or find us on Facebook.