EUSTIS, Fla. – At Camp Boggy Creek, the medical care is real but it’s meant to fade into the background.
For children living with serious illnesses, the Central Florida camp offers something many families say is hard to find: a place where kids can swim, fish, ride horses, try archery and take the stage all with a full medical team nearby and activities adapted so campers can participate regardless of ability.
“We serve children with 15 different serious illnesses,” said Patrick Chapman, president and CEO of Camp Boggy Creek. “It’s a time for them to come out and really not be thinking about medicine and doctors appointments.”
A camp built for kids who often can’t do ‘regular camp’
Camp Boggy Creek is celebrating its 30th year of serving children and families.
Chapman said the idea traces back to a South Florida girl named Jennifer who attended a camp in Connecticut, returned home and couldn’t stop talking about the experience. Her family and friends went on to establish Camp Boggy Creek in the mid-1990s. Two of its founders were Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and actor Paul Newman.
This year’s milestone is also a measure of the camp’s reach.
“We’ve served over 95,000 children and families since that day 30 years ago,” Chapman said.
The camp supports children with diagnoses including cerebral palsy, heart disease, cancer, sickle cell disease and epilepsy. Campers come in sessions grouped by illness so they can meet others who share similar experiences and so staff can match the right medical support.
Kimmy Lambourne, the camp’s director of special programs, said many campers have never attended any camp before.
“Here at camp, we have many different activities that our campers can participate in because they typically can’t go to another camp,” Lambourne said. “Whatever they’ve got going on with their bodies, we can help them to do those things for the first time.”
Accessibility and confidence by design
Lambourne said the camp’s buildings and activity areas are designed to be accessible, with adaptive options that allow campers to participate in ways that work for them.
At archery, she said, there are specialized bows for campers who use their bodies differently. At the pool, the camp uses a zero-entry design so campers using wheelchairs, crutches or prosthetics can enter without steps.
The approach is intentional, she said not only for safety, but to help campers build confidence.
“It’s intentional programming,” Lambourne said. “So that way we can make sure they have fun, that they build confidence, they can try things that they never thought that they could do.”
For many campers, that confidence is tied to something just as important: friendship.
“Having an illness as a child is very isolating,” Lambourne said. “So for them to come to camp, to be able to meet somebody who’s just like them … it’s a really empowering experience for them.”
More than summer camp: Retreat weekends for the whole family
Camp Boggy Creek’s programming extends beyond traditional summer sessions.
Lambourne said the camp offers two primary programs: a summer camp experience where children attend without their parents, and family retreat weekends where the child comes with their family including siblings.
“We know that illness impacts everybody in the family,” she said.
Chapman, who said he is relatively new to the organization, described family retreat weekends as a place where parents and caregivers can find community, too.
He recalled seeing a dining hall that was busy and loud with camp songs but also filled with what he called a sense of peace.
Parents, he said, talk with other parents who understand the routines and worries that come with caring for a child with a serious illness.
Volunteers are the heart of the camp
Camp Boggy Creek relies on volunteers throughout the year.
Chapman said the camp has about 35 full-time staff members, growing to roughly 90 in the summer. But the volunteer base is far larger.
“Over the course of the year, we have a thousand volunteers come out and support these children and their families,” he said.
One of the most common misconceptions, Lambourne said, is that volunteers must have a medical background.
“They don’t,” she said. “We will teach them and train them … how to keep our campers safe and what those illnesses mean and how it might impact their experience at camp.”
Lambourne said the camp’s greatest volunteer needs include men.
“One of our greatest needs for volunteers are men,” she said. “We need men to be role models to our campers so they can see themselves reflected. And if we’re not able to get those men, then we’re not able to serve those campers.”
To volunteer, applicants must be at least 18 and complete an application and background check, she said.
The camp also welcomes medical professionals, Chapman added, especially pediatric nurses.
A culture of kindness and traditions that travel home
Both Chapman and Lambourne emphasized that while Camp Boggy Creek is equipped with on-site medical support, the goal is for campers to feel like camp is first and medical care is secondary.
Chapman said the camp’s “Patch” is where kids can get “patched up,” but the focus is keeping campers out on the activities.
When campers do go home, they often leave with something tangible.
Lambourne said volunteers from around the country and around the world donate handmade gifts for every camper: a homemade Afghan blanket and a “Boggy Bear.”
“The idea is that they’ll take it with them, to clinic, to the hospital whenever they need that dose of camp,” she said.
‘A lifelong experience’ 30 years in the making
Chapman said the camp’s milestone year is also a reminder that the experience lasts well beyond a session.
“It’s a lifelong experience,” he said.
He described meeting former campers who return as volunteers including adults who went on to become nurses and doctors.
“A lot of our volunteers are former campers,” Chapman said. “The children get to kind of look up to them as mentors and friends.”
How to learn more
Camp Boggy Creek is free for campers and families, Chapman said, made possible through community support.
To learn about volunteering, touring the camp or attending a session, Chapman recommended starting online at boggycreek.org.