Greg and Darius are our other two awesome program interns this summer. In their second week, we threw them right into #CRSFcamp! Here's their recap of the highlights.
The June #CRSFcamp included just over 170 campers from our program partners in North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Ohio. For many of them, this was their first trip on an airplane! (Thank you, Southwest Airlines!) When the campers arrived on Monday afternoon, they received uniforms, gloves, and a backpack. Our camp would not be possible without the generous support of our friends and donors. A big thank you to Under Armour, Rawlings, Louisville Slugger, Marucci, and Walmart for helping us make sure our campers had top of the line gear and everything they needed!
The next three full days at camp are spent between an overnight camp facility in North East, Maryland and the Ripken Academy complex in Aberdeen, Maryland. The campers woke up each morning and had breakfast at NorthBay before riding in style on coach buses to Aberdeen. While at Aberdeen, the campers participated in various baseball activities, such as skill work and scrimmages. Basic baseball skills were taught to the campers in the morning right after stretching, and the scrimmages began after lunch. During each lunch break, various law enforcement agencies, such as the Montgomery County Police Department, US Marshals, and the Fairfax Police Department, gave presentations to the campers. Presentations included K-9 and SWAT team demonstrations, showing campers their vehicles and gear, and answering questions about careers in law enforcement.
These uncommon law enforcement officers played two roles this week, working as both officers during the presentations and coaches on the field. They helped instruct the kids during skill work and were spread out among the fields during the scrimmages in the afternoon. The law enforcement officials who were able to make it out to help this past week are greatly appreciated and deserve another big thank you from all of us at the CRSF!
After working out doing baseball activities at Aberdeen for most of the day, the campers come back to the overnight camp facility around 3 p.m. For the rest of the day, the campers were allowed to participate in typical camp activities and free play at the pool, in the gym, or outside. Most of the campers were found at the pool considering it was extremely hot all week.
With most outdoor camps, the weather plays a large role in the daily scheduling of activities. This past week, campers dealt with both sunny and rainy conditions in an extremely positive manner. The safety of our campers is always the first priority, so we made some adjustments to the activity schedule. While our field activities ended a bit earlier, this scheduling adjustment allowed for the showing of the movie Invincible in the theatre room. This movie was chosen because it highlights one of the main themes from our nightly programming activities: Never give up on your dreams, no matter what struggles may occur.
Even if your dream is to hike as many rolls of toilet paper as possible through the hula hoop your partner is holding...
After the movie, the campers were allowed to participate in the normal free time schedule. Although the skies did not clear up, the campers did not allow the weather to ruin their overall experience. All in all, the CRSF camp experience was second to none!!