History of Camp Leo for Children with Diabetes
In the Beginning…
Camp Leo for Children with Diabetes was founded in 1989 by a small group of health care
professionals from Capital Medical Center,
in Olympia Washington.
The founders: Jan Norman, RD,
CDE, Shelly Brammer, MD, David
Kelley, MD, Cindy Kelley, RN,
CDE. With a mutual and passionate
interest in diabetes, they decided to provide a camping experience for children
in the south sound area. This new camp
was only for children with diabetes, where doing all the daily tasks of living
with diabetes “was the rule and not the
exception”. This first summer day camp
was located at Black Lake Bible Camp and had 25 children ages 8 to 12 and
lasted 5 days. The first funding for
this camp came from the Olympia West Lions Club, tuition scholarships could then
be offered. This began the Camp Leo tradition that “no child is turned away because
of an inability to pay for camp”.
One year later, key medical leaders from 1990, Marcia Miller, ARNP and
Carol Malcom, RN joined the team.
How Camp got its name
After a year
of planning, camp was converted to an overnight experience, but it needed an official
name. A contest was held for the
original 25 children that attended in 1989 to name the overnight camp. Camp Leo
gave tribute to the winning name in honor of the Lion’s clubs that modestly supported
camp with money and manpower. Thus
creating the symbolic icon ‘Leo the Lion’ was the official face, logo, and
trademark of the camp. The winning camper received a free tuition to camp in
1990. Camp Leo
grew to 39 campers that year at Black Lake Bible Camp. Children came from
Thurston, Pierce, Mason, Lewis and Grays Harbor
counties. The Lions
financial support continued to grow and the medical and counseling staff
volunteered their time to make sure Camp Leo
was a safe and fun week away from home. The staff of Camp Leo
has always graciously donated their time to organize and recruit volunteers
during the week-long stead of camp in the summer. In addition, community
hospitals, like Capital Medical Center
and Good Samaritan Hospital donated vital
resources like staff time, supplies, and materials which provided the
infrastructure to assure sound medical and structural support. Again, during
those first years of Camp Leo,
the Olympia Host Lions Club recognized a need to provide funds for scholarships
to campers whose families were unable to pay camp fees.
Moving
from Black Lake
Bible Camp to Buck
Creek Camp
Camp
Leo remained in Thurston
County on Black Lake,
for 2 more years, hosting 50 to 55 children each year. Then in 1993 camp we moved to Buck Creek Camp
near Crystal Mountain, which offered a wider variety
of outdoor activities for the campers. Over the course of the next 10 years,
camp grew from 33 to 80 campers. The age range included children going into the
3rd to the 8th grade, ages 8 to 13 years old.
Critical management decisions make Camp Leo
a success
A critical
key to the success of camp has always been a high counselor / medical staff to
camper ratio. For each 8 children in a cabin group, there is a counselor, a
counselor-in-training, and a medical staff, to oversee the fun and safety of
each camper. An MD or ARNP is available 24/7. Nurses,
dietitians, and pharmacists provide “diabetes management” of the campers with
physician oversight. The counselors must be out of high school and also have
diabetes. The counselors-in-training are in high school and are graduates of the
Camp Leo camping program. The financial
and manpower support of the Lion’s Club expanded to become a critical element
to the success of camp. A unique
relationship has developed as key staff volunteers have joined the Lions, and
key Lions Club members have become dedicated staff to Camp Leo! This
partnership has contributed to the overall success of camp, which remains
strong to this very day!
Camp Leo
moves to a Junior and Senior Camp
Because of
space limitations at Buck Creek Camp, Camp Leo
split into two camping sessions in 2003.
Junior camp was scheduled Wednesday through Saturday and Senior Camp the
following Sunday through Saturday. This
was a major shift in the camping program as two separate staffing teams had to
be assembled. In turn two separate activity programs were developed that were
geared to the ages of the kids. This
allowed camp to grow from 75 to 100 campers in 2004.
Camp
Leo moves to Panhandle
Lake 4 H Camp in Mason County
In 2005, due
to a pending sale of Buck Creek Camp, Camp Leo
moved to Panhandle Lake 4 H Camp in Shelton
Washington. . Because of the over night capacity of this
camp, the Junior and Senior Camp could be held the same week, much to the
delight of the staff who have become a strong family over the years. There are two major advantages to Panhandle Lake
as a site for Camp Leo:
the waterfront activities and the close
location, so more Lions can volunteer. In 2005, over 75 Lions from 30
clubs, volunteered at camp making Camp
Leo a highly successful and visible District 19C activity. Over $25,000 was
donated from Multiple District 19 ensuring every camper could attend regardless
of ability to pay. This level of support
continues to the present while the numbers of campers grow by about 7% each
year. The 2008 enrollment was 101.
New
Camp Leo governing structure
In 2005 new
bylaws established a Board of Directors which equally represented Lions and Camp Leo
medical and counselor staff. Throughout
the year the Camp
Operation arm and Lions
Support arm meet. A solid committee
structure addresses programming, staffing, operations policies, marketing,
fundraising and volunteer coordination. The
Board of Directors meets no less than 4 times a year to set the budget, age
groups, dates, determine location and liability issues of camp.
In
Conclusion…
Whether
originally a Lion or a Camp Leo
staff member, we are one strong family
dedicated to the children that participate in Camp Leo each year. Our success is measured by:
- Campers that return each year
- Campers that move into the Leaders-in-Training program (Senior High), counselors and leaders in the governance of camp
- A team of dedicated volunteer staff that return each year
- Growing financial and volunteer support from Lions clubs
- A safety record that assures parents they can entrust their child for a week at Camp Leo
Original Symbol Today's Official Symbol