As a former camper/counselor at this camp, it's bittersweet.
For starters, I am thrilled that its closing means that fewer children are being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, but I have many, many, many fond memories of this camp and I have made lifelong friendships through it.
I'll miss the look of a kids' face when they find out that their cabin mates take the same medicine or when they have a place where they're not being judged for the first time in their life.
Congrats on being a councilor there. I own a cabin on the same road. I do not think the news is as good as the story makes it sound on the camps side. I mean no kids with HIV or AIDS sounds great, but they also hosted other groups like cancer and handicap. One big thing was Covid really hurt this camp. I think they ran out of money unfortunately. I like that the paper stayed on the positive side. We were sad when it was closed or closing this summer.
I'm sure Willow River is devastated. That town was always such a positive part of the camp experience. You are right that COVID hurt this camp greatly.
The same people hosted a camp for diabetics, kids in transitional housing, kids with cancer, as well as LGBT youth. They did so with the same goal as they did for kids with HIV/AIDS; creating a place where kids can put the stigma, stress, and problems of their situation away fir a week while just focusing on being a kid.
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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '25
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