Volunteering at: Between Friends Club- Camp Bonaventure!

Over the course of summer, some exciting volunteering projects definitely occurred, such as GlobalFest, Afrikadey!, Shakespeare in the Park, ExpoLatino, and the Bow River Flow Festival! However, Camp Bonaventure spans over the whole summer, and is undoubtedly one of the most fun and unique volunteer projects available through Youth Central! Every day is different, and I definitely recommend the project, as it was both a blast and a extremely eye-opening experience for me.

Organized by the Between Friends Club, it’s the only summer camp in Calgary that provides silly and fun camp songs,  enjoyable and challenge-oriented activities, and a friendly, engaging environment for individuals with disabilities. Also available to those without disabilities as well, Camp Bonaventure focuses on creating a experience of a lifetime with adventure, lots of fun and the chance to make new friends. Learn more about the camp here.

Minnows, Chipmunks, Otters, Badgers, Wolverines, Coyotes and Grizzlies, oh my! With Day troopers?! These are the names of the various age groups that campers are split into, with minnows being the youngest, and the day troopers being the oldest age group.

Did I mention we needed camp names?! When you volunteer at camp, how do you get into the spirit of exploring “the great outdoors”? Singing lots of silly but fun camp songs, and a distinctly unique camp name. Luckily, I chose my camp name before stammering, and thus was given one on the spot. Mine became NINJA, however my friend, unluckily, was thought of somewhat resembling corn, so she became CORN. Another friend became SUNFLOWER, and another DAISY. Perhaps I should have stuck with the theme of yellow plants, and been CANOLA. Oh well, because once you choose a name, you’re stuck with it for the rest of your volunteering-at-camp-life. It’s even better when you have names in your same group that just naturally form cooler words when combined. Such as an individual possessing the name SOLAR, and just for kicks, picking the name ECLIPSE, so there can be a SOLAR ECLIPSE in that group.

Worth mentioning are the awesome adventures and activities these campers get to participate in, such as: horseback riding, wall climbing, canoeing, golf, sailing,  swimming, and several other activities involving arts and crafts! Although I didn’t participate in sailing and canoeing like I hoped, swimming was definitely a great experience! Reserving the entire pool that day for the use of the group, many campers proved to have excellent swimming ability, though many campers chose to faithfully stick to inflatable tubes, volunteers, staff and aids for the duration of time we spent in the pool.

Camp Bonaventure is a project that rewarded my volunteering efforts with a learning experience, like volunteering at the Drop-In Center. At first, I had to admit, I was simply petrified and nervous. I don’t encounter many people with disabilities in my daily routine and lifestyle, and this camp was the first time I’ve ever experienced them in a large group and was responsible for their care. I was frankly in a psychologically uncomfortable position. However, as the day went by, I learned most campers were happy, friendly, and quite verbal people that were rather easy to get along with. They weren’t all that different from people without disabilities, with the exception of developing and learning at a different pace. For a while, you completely miss the difference and start truly enjoying your camp experience unguarded. So I thank this volunteer experience, as it completely taught me to not simply tolerate individuals that pose different aspects from us, but to accept them as no different as you or I. I mean we all have one goal: to have fun.

So if you are in for an exhilarating adventure a or a meaningful learning experience, either way, you know, you’re going to have fun.