ATLANTA — Many college students were counting on working at summer camps to make some money but camps all over the state are being canceled.
On Thursday, Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was outside the Shepherd Center in Buckhead where many kids with disabilities are also disappointed they won’t be going to camp.
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For many young people there, summer camp is what they look forward to all year, especially a camp that focuses on kids with special needs.
Summer camp is often a vacation for kids away from their parents.
They’re outdoors all day, swimming, learning how to make things and getting some exercise on a lake.
For children with special needs, Camp ASCCA, which is on the Georgia-Alabama state line, is so much more.
“Some of the comments I get year after year, you know, from campers and their families is, ‘Matt, this is the one place that I feel normal, that I fit in, that I’m the majority and there’s so many people like me,’” camp director Matt Rickman said.
Rickman said it was heartbreaking for him when he had to tell about 1,500 campers there won’t be any summer camp this year because of the coronavirus.
Many of them called the staff crying, and there was one young adult with cerebral palsy who left a memorable message.
“He left me a message and was just so upset because that’s his one-week vacation and that’s the only thing on his calendar every year that he looks forward to and he’s been coming here 30 years, since he was a little boy, and yeah, so they’re just devastated,” Rickman said.
Staff members are feeling the same way.
The camp offered furloughs to some but had to tell nearly 100 college students they just don’t have a summer job for them this year
“Here we are: We’ve suspended summer and we still don’t have an end date for this. When will it be safe for camps to operate? So that’s the real scary thing,” Rickman said.
Camp ASCCA leaders have no doubt it will bounce back after all this. It is a year-round camp so they’re hoping their fall sessions will be OK.
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