Teen Summer Volunteer Opportunity

Teen Helps Others at Camp Jabberwocky

By Andrew Miller-Smith, TeenLife Contributing Writer

This summer, you will find teenagers tanning on the beach during the day, going to the movie theatre at night, and sleeping in late every morning. This, however, will not be the case for Caroline Leahy.

Each year, Caroline, a rising senior at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Mass. spends a large part of her summer volunteering at Camp Jabberwocky, a small camp for the disabled on Martha’s Vineyard, a small island and popular tourist destination a few miles south of Cape Cod.

Camp Jabberwocky began in 1953 with a small number of children with cerebral palsy. From there, the camp has expanded to a volunteer staff of over 60 people serving more than 100 disabled children and adults every summer. Today, the camp’s mission is as follows:

Camp Jabberwocky exists to provide a residential vacation camp for people with disabilities. We provide recreation and enrich the lives of our campers by creating a supportive environment that promotes the fulfillment of human potential and fosters independence and self-determination while respecting diversity.*

Each counselor at Camp Jabberwocky lives at the camp and is assigned to a camper for two-week periods. "The camp is about challenging yourself and the campers. It’s your job to hang out with campers for two weeks, get to know them, and take care of them,” explains Caroline, who has worked at Camp Jabberwocky ever since she was old enough to be a day counselor. "Depending on your camper’s needs, you could be doing things like feeding them or helping them take showers after going to the beach. You really just act as their helper. You’re with them twenty-four seven.” The summer experience helps both counselors and campers build confidence.

A typical day at Camp Jabberwocky begins at approximately 8:00 each morning. Counselors help campers complete their morning routines. Everyone eats breakfast together and then attends morning classes, which usually consist of a music class and an art class. After lunch, campers and counselors go to the beach. Once they return to the camp, everyone has dinner. Finally, everyone attends the nightly activity, which can range from dances to magicians and a capella groups. Counselors then help their campers get to bed and soon after fall asleep themselves.

"It’s very tiring and exhausting, but it’s an incredible experience,” says Caroline. "Sometimes after camp I come home and sleep for almost three days straight. It can sometimes be hard. Last year I had a woman who was 49 years old, and I had to make sure that she didn’t gain weight because of a medical condition. It was weird telling a 49 year old what she could and couldn’t eat, and she resented it. Still, though, it’s one of the most fun, interesting, and amazing jobs you could ask for. I think the best way to describe it is that when you leave it’s really weird to have so much time to yourself. You live for somebody else at Camp Jabberwocky. It’s the best four weeks of my year.”

She continues, "My favorite part of the camp is the friendships with the people. I’m so excited to see everybody when I go back this summer. There’s always that one camper whom you connect with more than the rest, and when you see that recognition on their face, that they remember you and are excited to hang out with you, you know you’ve been a good friend. You’re their helper, but their friend too. It’s a bonding experience. You come to love these campers so much.”

Caroline will begin her third year at Camp Jabberwocky at the end of June.

Caroline at Camp Jabberwocky

* Information courtesy of www.campjabberwocky.org

-Andrew Miller-Smith is a rising senior at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Mass. He is interested in the French language, English and French literature, philosophy, and video game development. He is the executive editor of his award-winning school newspaper, The Vanguard.