Friendship Ventures! -- Snapshots of Friendship

Although it’s not well known, The United States Congress in 1935 proclaimed the first Sunday of August as National Friendship Day, making Sunday August 5 Friendship Day this year.

As an organization that fosters friendships among people with developmental disabilities, we feel we should note this occasion. While the value of friendship is always great, it is especially sweet for people who have to work hardest at creating friendships.

Because of their intellectual disabilities, the clients we serve face challenges navigating life every day. Even completing basic daily tasks can be a struggle without the support of family and others. Working on skills - and that includes social skills - is an everyday, lifelong endeavor. When social skills don’t come naturally, friendships don’t come easily. As a result, many children and adults with disabilities experience feelings of isolation.

On Friendship Day, several hundred children, teenagers and adults with developmental disabilities will begin a week of summer camp at one of our three sites. They’ll walk onto the grounds of Camp Friendship, Eden Wood Center or Camp New Hope ready for a week of fun activities such as canoeing, hiking, fishing, swimming and archery.

At camp, they’ll have the chance to socialize and make friends and memories of their own. For that week, they’ll be surrounded by people much like themselves and be supported by well-trained staff and volunteers. They’ll learn to share a cabin with their peers, make decisions as a group about activities and practice social skills.

But before they leave camp on Friday, they will have shared fun new experiences, discovered new interests and, probably, made new friends. They’ll make happy memories they’ll treasure the rest of the year.

While Friendship Day celebrates all friends, Friendship Ventures is happy to celebrate the value of friends for our special population.

Volunteer lifeguard dedicates his mondays to Eden Wood Center

Chip helps Dominique cast off the dock at the Eden Wood Center waterfront.

Volunteers fill a vital role at Friendship Ventures. On average, volunteers provide more than 75,000 hours each year, saving Friendship Ventures the equivalent of 35 full-time salaries. The figures are stunning. The individual stories behind the numbers are equally impressive.

This summer, Friendship Ventures is fortunate to have the assistance of Chip ten Bensel, Minneapolis, an accredited lifeguard and St. Paul special education teacher, at Eden Wood Center. Every Monday he works the waterfront, helping to launch boats, giving casting lessons to anglers and keeping everyone safe at water’s edge.

He accompanies groups on field trips to the beach for swimming, and most importantly, he makes the beach and dock on Birch Island Lake the most fun place to be. “Chip really injects his character into working with our participants,” noted Melissa Kuisle, program manager at Eden Wood Center. “He’s very patient with everyone, he jokes around and he makes it obvious that he truly enjoys our campers.”

“I really like being here,” Chip said. “This is a gem in the rough.” And although he has taught children with emotional and behavioral disorders for 16 years, he says that he sees camp staff use unique approaches to deal with various issues. “This helps me learn ways to approach students,” he commented.

Chip credits his family with both his willingness to volunteer and his career choice. “Everyone in my family is in the helping fields,” he said, in nursing, physical therapy, and in the case of his father, a doctor who specialized in children suffering from abuse and neglect. He volunteered at a summer camp when Chip was young, and taught Chip the importance of helping out in the community.

Chip’s community involvement is not limited to his days at Eden Wood Center. As a lifeguard at the Minneapolis YWCA for 23 years, Chip has become aware of the large numbers of drowning deaths among people of color. He participated in a swim-a-thon, swimming half the distance of the English Channel July 21, to raise money to help the YWCA provide swimming opportunities for underserved children.
And this summer, he is helping Friendship Ventures, making sure that participants with disabilities have enjoyable and safe experiences around the water.

Camp New Hope sports new kitchen

As the 2007 summer camp began at Camp New Hope, staff and campers all benefited from a host of kitchen repairs and upgrades. “It’s a brand new kitchen,” noted Jamie Ryan, Camp New Hope director. “We really needed these upgrades in order to be efficient.”

The work, including installing a new stove and hood, a custom cupboard system, counter tops, splash board, tile floor and thorough cleaning and painting, was all done by volunteers. The project was spearheaded by Norton Sorenson, a member of the McGregor Lions Club, aided by his wife Elsa. They recruited and scheduled volunteers, planned project timing and offered project oversight.

All of the labor was completed by volunteers. About 15 members of the McGregor Lions Club completed most of the 200+ hours of labor. Lions Clubs also stepped forward to help pay for the project, contributing $12,000. Without the volunteer labor, the entire project would have cost about $30,000. “It’s another example of the tremendous support of Lions Clubs,” said Ryan.

Major project donors were Spring Lake Park, Clear Lake and St. Paul Park Newport Lions Clubs.

Snapshots from Camp

Camp Friendship participants practiced karate moves Monday, July 23, as Cathy King, a second-degree, black belt from National Karate of St. Cloud, demonstrated.

Summer Camp: More fun than ever

As if spending a week with friends learning fun new activities was not enough, participants at all three sites have been treated to special guests and events during their week (or more) at camp.

Many of the events have become traditions, both for the volunteers who come to camp with their skill or show and for returning campers.

Special guests this year at Camp Friendship already appearing or yet to appear include:

Bob Warner, Accordion Man, who himself has disabilities, performed both the accordion and keyboard.
Minnaqua, a program of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, teaches people about lake and stream ecology and fishing. A representative taught about fish and habitats, and led a fishing trip.
Misty and Friends, a mobile petting zoo, has been coming to camp for four years, bringing ducks, miniature horses, silky chickens and gigantic bunnies for participants to hold and pet.
Jan Larson, a member of the Minnesota Herpetological Society, shares information about reptiles.
The Sweet Adelines sang for campers.
A group of participants from the I Love Critters special session toured the Greater West Metro Humane Society in Buffalo and spent time with animals. For another session, the group will bring animals to camp for playtime and a discussion about pet care.
The Israel Scouts, a group of teenagers from Israel, travel around the United States as emissaries from their country, sing and perform. This returning group is a camp favorite.
Kurt Eich worked with participants of a Hook, Line and Sinker special session, teaching fishing basics along with some more advanced fishing techniques.
Black belt competitors from National Karate are demonstrating martial arts techniques.
Star Michaelina, a professional magician and the sister of a participant, will perform a magic show.
The St. Cloud Riverbats will do a baseball demonstration and teach baseball skills.

Guests at Camp Eden Wood this summer:

Tom Richmond, a caricaturist, creates souvenir drawings for campers and staff.
The Eden Prairie Fire Department visited with various trucks and equipment to teach about fire safety.
Helping Paws, an organization that trains service dogs, brought dogs to teach about service dogs and their “jobs.”
The St. Paul Saints conducted a baseball clinic, teaching baseball skills and signing autographs.
The Interact Center, which provides professional-level training to people with disabilities in the performing and visual arts, taught acting and gave a performance.
The Shelby American Auto Club members are sharing their vintage cars.

Camp New Hope guests include:

The McGregor Fire Department, which will show equipment and share fire safety tips.
A group from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Community Center performed traditional dances.

Each week, Lions Clubs host ice cream socials and lemonade parties at camp, bringing and serving the cooling treats to participants during the evening program. Participating clubs include:

Montrose Lions
Maple Lake Lions
Clearlake Lions
Kimball Lions
Howard Lake Lions
Watkins Lions
St. Augusta Lions
Brooklyn Park Lady Lions
Coon Rapids Cardinal Lions
Richmond Lions
Coon Rapids Lions
Monticello Lions
Eden Prairie Lioness

Thanks to Donors

Special thanks to these donors for their recent contributions to fund scholarships:

Hilltop Church, Eden Prairie
Bokers, Inc., Minneapolis
Cutler-Magner Company, Duluth
Knights of Columbus Council, New Brighton
Coon Rapids Lions Club
Sparboe Farms, Inc., Litchfield
United Way of McLeod County
Knights of Columbus Council, Finlayson
Minnesota Women of Today, Anoka
Caring Rivers United Way, Elk River
Buffalo Youth Hockey Association
Monticello Lions Club
Pax Christi Catholic Community, Eden Prairie
Veterans of Foreign Wars, St. Paul
Blue Rock Charitable Fund, Minneapolis
John R. Cross Fund of the St. Paul Foundation

Thanks to donors who contributed for these special purposes:

Camp Friendship Lodge Renovation

Foley Lions Club
Beckman Brothers Construction, Annandale, for in-kind labor
Blue Rock Charitable Fund, Minneapolis, a second donation

Camp New Hope

Ramsey Lions Club

Camp New Hope Kitchen Renovation

St. Paul Park Newport Lions Club

We thank these and all contributors for your support.

Thanks to all donors!

You Can Help:

To give a gift to children and adults with disabilities, Click to access our secure, on-line giving site. Your support will make all the difference in the world.

Friendship Ventures is a non-profit agency that creates unique educational, recreational and social opportunities for people of all ages with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. We also offer conference and retreat services and professional team-building programs to the communities we serve. Friendship Ventures operates Camp Friendship near Annandale, MN, Eden Wood Center in Eden Prairie, MN and Camp New Hope near McGregor, MN.

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