Several years ago at the National Convention Region 12 Business Agent Bill Lucini talked about the MDA Camp. He advised us that if we were ever given the opportunity to attend the Camp he highly recommended that we should visit. I realized after hearing his inspirational talk I knew this was something I wanted to do. Hence another item on my bucket list.
This year I was very fortunate to attend with our Vice President Les Dillman, Treasurer Eric Jackson, Financial Secretary Beth Lloyd and Director of Education Joe Pease.
The theme of this years VIP Camp Day was time travel. Eric's great idea was to pick five different periods of time. First was Stone age, Prehistoric, Wild West, Space Age and the 1970's.
We all dressed for each period of time. Representing the Stone Age was Fred Flintstone portrayed by Les, Prehistoric was a Dinosaur portrayed by Joe, Wild West was Woody portrayed by Eric, Space Age was Princess Leia portrayed by Beth and the 1970's was portrayed by myself.
The children and young adults were truly amazing. Spinning the wheel was challenging for some but with a little help they did great. They enjoyed picking a prize or two.
When the kids smiled it brightened my whole day. One little boy was a pro at the corn hole game even with Les distracting him.
The highlight was a little girl that just loved meeting Woody. She even came back and found his missing hat. It made me realize little things do make a difference.
These kids are definitely an inspiration to see the joy in their faces. They appreciated everything they received even the smallest little trinket.
Hopefully next year Branch 725 can bring even more joy and happiness to all these amazing kids. One thing for sure is that this experience made me fully realize the importance of our support for the MDA and why we need to do whatever we can to help these kids.