LSF to Send Foster Kids

to Summer Camp

23 May 2008 - TW

Lutheran Services Florida is planning to send 32 children in their foster care program and youth shelters to camp this summer at Luther Springs in Hawthorne, FL.

"This is very exciting because most of these children have never been out of the Fort Myers area, much less to camp," said Patricia Leonard, LSF Director for the Southwest Region.  Lutheran Services Florida is a provider of foster care services in Lee and Charlotte Counties for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

The summer camp program for LSF's foster care children will be five days long, from June 29 to July 4.  Ages of eligible children are 11-13.  Foster care parents and LSF counselors will serve as chaperones along with Luther Springs camp personnel.

"This is a really great idea," said LSF CEO Sam Sipes about this first time program for LSF's foster care and adoptions program.  "I am excited for us to have a chance to enhance the lives of the children we serve.  These kids have suffered abuse and neglect at the hands of adults they are supposed to be able to trust.  In many cases this camp experience may be the first time they are able to just be kids."

The children attending Luther Springs will participate in Bible study, games, team-building, swimming, crafts, and the usual kind of activities that a camp provides.  Luther Springs Camp is operated by Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Florida (LOMF) and supported by the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

SPONSORSHIPS NEEDED

Donations are being sought to assist in the sponsorship of each child going to camp.  The cost per child is $430, covering room, board and camp programs.  Sponsorships of four kids and two kids are also available.  For more information on sponsoring a child for summer camp, click here to see the sponsorship brochure.  Checks for sponsoring a child should be made out to Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Florida, with "LSF Sponsorship" in the memo line, and mailed to LOMF at 3815 W. State Street, Tampa, FL 33609.

Sufficient sponsorships however will not be the determining factor for participation in the summer camp, Ms. Leonard pointed out. 

"The camp is not going to turn any foster child away that we find to go to camp because of inability to pay."  LOMF has indicated its full support of the program, and a bus has even been volunteered by a local Lutheran Church in Ft. Myers.  The Foster Care Council of Southwest Florida is also donating $1940 to assist with the camp program, she added.

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