|
In her 11-year old career as a Girl Scout, Heather Henderson has earned more than 100 merit badges in everything from cooking to first aid to outdoor recreation.
Last weekend, the 16-year old put all that know-how to work by organizing a three-day camp for 27 craniofacial patients and their families at Booker T. Washington State Park.
"All the details involved made the planning harder than I thought it would be," said the the Notre Dame High School sophomore.
In January, she started working on the multifaceted service effort to qualify her to receive Girl Scouting's highest honor, the Gold Award, later this month.
"But I have a gift for working with special-needs kids and that's why I chose to put on this camp for my Gold Award project. It touched me, seeing how happy they were," she said of the campers, who ranged from 2 to 22 in age.
With high-energy activities running the gamut from horseback-riding to canoeing and less exhaustive pursuits such as crafts and speaker presentations, the free outing represented a rare adventure for its 100-plus participants, some of whom traveled from out of state to participate.
"Due to various medical complications associated with craniofacial anomalies, this camp is an opportunity that many would not otherwise have," said Terri Farmer, director of the Craniofacial Foundation of America (CFA).
According to Ms. Farmer, CFA supports the work of the Tennessee Craniofacial Center at T.C Thompson Children's Hospital and Erlanger Medical Center.. Its support takes various forms, including providing financial aid for non-medical expenses such as lodging that incoming patient families may incur.
Economic assistance for this inaugural craniofacial camp came courtesy of the Ronald McDonald House Charity, which responded to Heather's written request for funds with a $3000 grant.
"The money was used for things like T-shirts, food, speakers and horses," said Heather. "I also got some things donated and managed to stay within my budget."
She managed to stay on top of myriad tasks, too. " I'm a big list-maker and I went over my 'things to do' every night. I kept a notebook of everything," the teen-ager said.
She added that the thick binder even went with her school, where her religion teacher devoted an entire period to having classmates help stuff the 800 envelopes that were sent to prospective campers all over the country.
Having helped with CFA's golf tournaments, Christmas parties and other events for the past four years, Heather knew some of the post-operative patients who signed up for the camp.
The scout's familiarity with the needs of those who have trachea tubes or cleft palates helped her devise meals that met special meal requirements while allowing fun foods such as S'mores and a celebratory Mother's Day breakfast to be on the menu.
 As a veteran of the volunteer community, she used her connections to persuade lifegaurds, counselors and other camp principals to furnish their expertise and elbow grease on a gratis basis. Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, for example, not only supplied sports equipment, but sent some 45 student volunteers, as well.
School-age participants weren't the only ones who found the weekend to be a learning experience, however.
A demonstration by representatives of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary of Elljay, Ga, for example, provided camp participants up-close-and-personal encounters with hedgehogs, ferrets, owls, a chinchilla, a hawk, a python and other animals, according to CFA's Nicole Bellenfant.
Ms. Bellenfant added that the camp was also beneficial in serving as a venue in which craniofacial families could "get to know one another." She praised Heather as "a strong role model working to make the world a better place."
|
