Operation Purple

Operation Purple was a success! It was as whirlwind and I'm exhausted, but it was a great week.

I was a little nervous the weekend before the kids arrived. Our camp nurse was going through the kids' health forms and there were many more needs that usual. Kids who had had serious medical issues like a kidney transplant and a cracked skull, and serious trauma like abuse, parents with terminal illnesses and kids who had behavioral problems, in addition to the fact that every kid had a parent deployed. Normally we have a few kids with needs, but this week, it was the majority- 9 or 10 out of each cabin of 12. Add to that, each of the counselors was going to be without a co-counselor because we had so many more kids than usual, so I was anxious.

But the week was great. There were a few more cases of homesickness than usual, but otherwise, there wasn't much of a difference, despite the long list of needs. By the end of the week, the staff was exhausted, but they handled it well, putting on their "counselor faces" and staying positive.

Tuesday was "military day" and it was a wonderful day! When I went to the Camp Director training in February, many people who had done OPC before made military day sound difficult and awful. They told us to have backup plans so that if your military personnel cancelled, you could still have activity and so I was a little nervous. I didn't even technically have a military liaison (a contact to help me arrange the day). I'd called a military family organization and a woman there had said she could help me take care of it, and the next thing I knew, someone was calling to make arrangements to land a helicopter, but I never actually knew who my contact would be. In my wildest dreams, I couldn't have imagined such a well-done day!

The National Guard sent 12 soldiers who had an inflatable obstacle course, face painting, military time bingo, relay races, and MRE packs (meals ready to eat) which I'd been told are impossible to get, but they arrived without my asking. The kids rotated between stations and the soldiers lead them through everything. At noon, the helicopter landed and it was SPECTACULAR! I was as excited as the kids were. The helicopter was there for the day and groups got to get inside, touch everything and I stood and took pictures of every single kid and staff in front of it. I figured if my staff and myself were that excited, the kids would be too. Program Director S and I took over 600 photos over the course of the day. The whole day was so organized and fun and I couldn't believe I had pulled it off as I looked around. Midway through the day, one of my staff asked me very seriously, "did you have to pay a lot for all of this?" which was a good question, and impressive to look around and know it was all free!

More parents than usual dropped their kids off and picked them up from camp, so I talked to 70 or 80 parents. They were so appreciative and had such great feedback. MANY of them had been following the week on the camp blog and had been looking at pictures and it was great to hear that they enjoyed those things (which are time consuming and sometimes annoying jobs that I usually do at 11pm when I am exhausted and want to skip to go to sleep). The entire week was gratifying and while I firmly believe all kids benefit from camp, this week in particular, the kids needed camp and it was an honor to be able to give that to them. I don't have a lot of experience with the military, but this week gave me a new appreciation and made me feel really connected.

Next week is a much smaller group, which will be a good break for the staff. We are entering our 5th week out of ten, so we are almost halfway through.

HOORAH.