Camp Smiles

The dream of Camp Smiles began to take shape as a mom watched her 10 year old son, Ryan, try his best to interact with a group of children.  When the children spoke to Ryan he became so excited that he nearly rocked his little wheelchair across the room.  

 It was sweet to see how excited he was and a little heartbreaking to know that he had been missing out on friendships all summer.  Unfortunately, there are no summer day camps for children with Cerebral Palsy in Horry County.  Thankfully, one simple phone call to Coastal Carolina University and the wheels were in motion to make the dream of Camp Smiles a reality.  

 Camp Smiles will give children with Cerebral Palsy a safe, fun place to learn and socialize.  However, the impact of Camp Smiles will go far beyond the six weeks of camp.  With such a diversified team of professors, students, and community members coming together, the camp will:

 1)  Set the stage for an annual program that will continually grow to provide quality activities for more and more children each year.  

2)  Allow college students to explore not only the impact that they can make in the lives of these children, but the students will also be surprised at what they themselves learn from these joyful, determined, humorous, and inspiring children.

3)  Highlight the opportunity to change the lives of at risk children and their families, particularly in college towns, as communities come together.

4)  Provide a blueprint for recreating programs across the state and country by teaming up with United Cerebral Palsy and Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, as well as others. 

Lastly, as you can imagine, children with Cerebral Palsy typically don’t meet the requirements for traditional summer day camps, especially if they are bound to a wheelchair. This often creates a crisis for special needs families who find themselves in a struggle between caring for their child and maintaining their jobs.  Camp Smiles will impact the quality of life for entire families.