For more than 50 years, Camp L.G. Barnes has been making a difference in the lives of adults with disabilities in Alberta.
The camp, located on the southwestern shores of Gull Lake, is fully accessible and offers anyone with disabilities an opportunity to experience camping.
However, this year might be a little tougher than previous years.
Due to a gap in the executive director position, some necessary grant applications were missed that would have provided up to $80,000 in funds to help staff the camp for the summer season.
Adding to the misfortune, Lacombe County Council, in its May 22 meeting, denied the camp's one-time grant request of $22,000 for emergency funding.
The newly appointed Executive Director, Brent Chalmers, isn’t worried because he has hopes and plans for the future of the camp.
“We are operating right now with grants from "Persons with Developmental Disabilities" (a program through the Alberta Government) and we are being encouraged to make a transition to more of a social entrepreneurship.” says Chalmers.
The plan is that instead of relying on grants, the camp is changing its operations to make money by opening its camp and services to the public and offering more year-round.
“We hope to earn money, we hope to have a profit and then to put that profit back into our programs for people with disabilities,” states Chalmers.
“We've just started to get the ball rolling here, with a change in the style of the board, that's more of a governance board where they hired me to get people to run this and do this and work that way, so that model is making a difference to our operation as well.”
The camp is also looking into providing corporate offers, where a donation from companies could benefit not only the camp but employees and people within the donating organization by giving them a chance to attend camp as part of the monetary giving.
“The idea would be that they would reach down into their organization and give something back to their employees or empower their employees to feel that they were part of that giving process rather than just here's $10,000,” says Chalmers.
The camp currently has its usual summer activities that are all fully accessible, such as water sports, a petting zoo, wagon rides on the “Wally wagon,” and an elevated outdoor deck with a wheelchair elevator.
New to camp this year will be the "Carnival Day" program, running throughout June and open to everyone.
It will feature game booths, face painting, prizes and food.
There is also the addition of "Cinnamon Bun Fridays", a recipe Chalmers said he had to plead and beg for.
The homemade buns are free and available once a month on a first-come, first-served basis.
The hope is that these added features will not only promote the camp but also increase campers and give some attention to the camp as they open their doors to the public.
“You don't need to be disabled to come here,” says Chalmers.
“People that work every week can't wait to get away on the weekend and go camping somewhere and everybody is the same as that and everybody deserves that right and that privilege and so our work is to support that and we're just changing the way that we begin to support that work that we do,” he concludes.
For more information on Camp L.G. Barnes, their services, bookings, or to help out and volunteer visit their website.
And if all you can think of now is cinnamon buns, June 20 at 10 a.m., coffee and buns will be available.
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