Volunteer with Special Needs

• The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) conducts summer camps for special needs children affected by neuromuscular disease. Camp activities can include sports, arts and crafts, talent shows, and cookouts. Volunteers give both physical and emotional support to their camper, and training includes wheelchair techniques, lifting and transfers, personal hygiene, and emergency procedures. Camp dates and locations can be obtained from your local MDA representative.
• Easter Seals camps serve people with physical or cognitive disabilities. Activities at these camps for children with special needs range from nature studies and aquatics to adventures such as canoeing and rock climbing. To learn about locations and volunteer opportunities, contact one of the many camp locations and ask to speak to the camp director.
• Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times offers activities to kids and teens who have or have had cancer. The camp is located in the pine-filled valleys of the San Jacinto Mountains in Southern California. Volunteers are asked to commit for one nine-day session, including two days of on-site staff training and orientation.
• Camp Ronald McDonald at Eagle Lake provides traditional camping activities for children with physical, emotional, developmental, or medical needs. The camp is located in Northern California on the shores of Eagle Lake in the middle of Lassen National Forest.
• Camp C.A.M.P. (Children's Association for Maximum Potential) seeks volunteer camp counselors age 14 and older for its five-day summer camp sessions for children with special needs and their siblings. Counselors receive pre-camp training in health, safety, daily living needs of the special-needs camper, and helping participants to have fun. Programs take place in Center Point, Texas, along the Guadalupe River.
• The website http://www.kidscamps.com/specialneeds-camps.camp allows you to search for camps serving children with particular special needs, such as camps for children with visual impairment, camps for children who have suffered burns, and camps for children with developmental disabilities. After clicking on the special-needs area of interest, you can click on a state to view camps in that region.

Alternatively, you can search for volunteer counselor opportunities based on the special-need served by the camp:

• burn victim camps
• cancer victim camps
• developmental disability camps
• diabetes camps
• epilepsy camps
• learning disabilities and ADHD camps
• physical disabilities camps
• speech and hearing impairment camps
• visual impairment camps
• weight loss camps