OSWEGO – The Friends of Oswego County Hospice (FOCH), resumed Camp Rainbow of Hope as an overnight camp for 2022. Camp was held August 14-17 and hosted 11 campers and 14 big buddies.
“Dealing with the loss of a loved one is difficult for anyone. For children, death losses can be more complex due to a variety of factors (their development, information shared or not shared with them, learning to manage their emotions, and still developing coping skills),” said Ashley Lawton, lead healing circle facilitator.
According to Lawton, Camp Rainbow of Hope was designed to help children navigate the difficulties that come with grief and help them process their thoughts and emotions.
In addition to traditional summer camp activities such as camp fires, swimming, playing, and making new friends, Camp Rainbow provides group counseling, called healing circles, to process children’s grief. These groups are led by trained mental health professionals or those attending school in a mental health field.
The purpose of healing circles are for children to leave camp feeling connected and knowing they are not alone in their feelings and to develop a support network they can return to year after year and healthy coping skills they can utilize once they return home.
“We would like to thank our donors, Oswego County Federal Credit Union Cares, the Palermo Elementary Parent Teacher club and the grant from the Oswego City- County Youth Bureau and the NYS office of children and family services,” said Elena Twiss, FOCH executive director. “This camp would not be a success without our volunteers.”
The Camp Rainbow Committee includes Betty Dunsmoor, Camp Rainbow Director, Ashley Lawton, Healing Circle coordinator, Donna DuBois-Taylor, Camp Nurse, Zach Grulich, Camp Hollis Director, Khadijah Malone, Fun Facilitator.
Volunteers also include: the annual tie dye volunteers that help the kids create their own tie-dye Camp Rainbow of Hope t-shirt, Bonnie Savage, Becky Mackey, Bonnie’s daughters Amanda and Sadie and grandaughter Cameron. Kitchen volunteers Sharon Carr, Kate and Cathy Clark-Mayo and Jeninge Berrus. Mathew Goodsell from the Oswego County Health Department made smoothies with the kids using the smoothie bike. Oswego Movie Theater for donating popcorn for our movie night.
“Camp Rainbow of Hope celebrated the 20th year of this unique bereavement camp experience in 2019. The pandemic forced the committee to cancel Camp in 2020 and hold a one day camp in 2021,” Twiss said. “This year was the return of the three day overnight camp and there were many returning big buddies and campers along with many new faces as well.”
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