Photo: Easter Seals BC/Yukon

Easter Seals British Columbia and Yukon has been granted $24,497 in support by the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and the Central Okanagan Foundation.

The funds will support the Easter Seals' virtual summer Camp@Home Program for children and adults with diverse abilities in the Central Okanagan region. 

“We are so grateful for the support of the Central Okanagan Foundation in helping us move ahead quickly in redesigning our summer camp program due to COVID-19," says Lisa Beck, President and CEO of Easter Seals BC/Yukon. 

"During this pandemic, our community has lost resources that they rely on every day and we wanted to make sure that our camp program wasn’t one of them."

This new program has been designed to replace the traditional overnight camp at Camp Winfield in Lake Country which was held there for over 50 years. 

“It’s critical that we continue to offer programs and services to our community and raise the much-needed funds to implement them," added Beck. 

The popularity of the online camp has led to an addition of two more weeks, giving campers 10 weeks of virtual camp to choose from.

Campers are between the ages of 6 to 49 and will enjoy weekly sessions that include a set schedule where campers log in alongside their peers and a trained counsellor for engaging programming and social connection each day. 

Activities include many of the beloved traditions of camp, such as campfire sing-a-longs and their famous Talent Show and Kangaroo Kourt.  

This grant is in addition to the $39,000 multi-year commitment made by The Central Okanagan Foundation last year, to support Camp Winfield. 

The program begins on July 6.