Summer Bereavement Camp for Kids & Teens

May 27, 2011 - PRLog -- If you know a child or teen who has experienced the death of a family member, friend or loved one, let them know about Camp Lifetimes. Available to anyone in the community, Lory’s Place offers a free day camp for children, ages 5 – 12, on Thursday, June 23 from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm at Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. A separate day camp for teens, ages 13 – 18, will be held on Saturday, June 25 from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm at Five Pines Ministries in Berrien Center.

Camp Lifetimes gives grieving children and teens an opportunity to meet others who have experienced a death and to realize they are not alone in their grief journey. “Grief is a normal, natural response to death.  Individuals move toward healthy living when supported through their grief.  Camp Lifetimes offers such avenues of support,” states Lisa Bartoszek, Director of Bereavement and Lory’s Place at Hospice at Home.

The theme for the children’s bereavement camp is Camp Lifetimes: Survivor Fernwood. The goal is to create an environment for sharing in a place rich with the sights and sounds of nature. Along with Lory’s Place staff and volunteers, children will learn about grief through a number of fun physical and mental challenges. The children will learn that much like the challenges, surviving grief can take a lot of energy, trust, and teamwork.

The theme for the teen bereavement camp is Camp Lifetimes: Survivor Five Pines. Along with Lory’s Place staff and volunteers, teens will embark on a series of activities designed for enrichment through challenge and confrontation. This adventure will include such elements as team building, a high ropes course, and climbing. The teens will explore grief and learn how working through it takes all of the tools needed to make it though the courses; tools such as communication, trust, courage, and physical strength.

There is no weight limit for the activities and accommodations will be made for those with physical impairments. All participants will be with an adult facilitator who has experience working with grieving children and will be supervised by Lory’s Place staff. Transportation will be provided to and from Lory’s Place to the camps by Berrien Bus. Lunch, water, and snacks will be provided.

To register for either Camp Lifetimes, please complete the registration form online at www.lorysplace.org and return it to Lory’s Place by June 17.

Since opening on November 15, 2004, hundreds of children from Allegan, Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties in Michigan, as well as from Elkhart and South Bend in Indiana, have taken the courageous step of accessing the bereavement resource services of Lory’s Place.   With professional bereavement staff and trained volunteers, Lory’s Place provides regularly scheduled age-appropriate support group sessions that allow children and adults to interact with peers who have suffered similar loss. There is no charge for the services that Lory’s Place provides.

To receive more information about Lory’s Place or Camp Lifetimes call 269-983-2707 or 1-800-717-3812, or go to www.lorysplace.org.

# # #

Hospice at Home is your non-profit hospice provider for SW Michigan. Offering comfort, dignity, and compassion to the terminally ill through a holistic, non-curative, approach to care, focused on enhancing the lives of patients for their remaining days.