Jason Sentas Resources

Royal Family Kids' Camp. (Headquarters in Santa Ana, California).

OVERVIEW

There are not many programs America that offer a camp experience specifically designed for abused, neglected, and abandoned children. Most of the children that attend camp come from foster homes in the local area. Royal Family Kids’ Camps are distinctly created for helping children that have come through some serious hardships. Founded in 1985 by Wayne and Diane Tesch, this camp is geared for children ages 7-11. There are 66 camps in 32 states, and each year over 2,500 campers attend. Screened, trained counselors and staff work with the children. The camps are sponsored by local churches and are organized by the Royal Family Kids’ Camp headquarters in southern California.

PROGRAM GOALS

The main goal for Royal Family Kids’ Camps follows: “Creating positive memories for abused, neglected and abandoned children.” The camp aims to provide the kids a safe setting in which they can just be children, a haven from the cruel world that is all too familiar. Royal Family Kids’ Camps wants to have a camp available to kids in every county of the nation.

PROGRAM METHODS

Royal Family Kids’ Camp is a week-long camp that is offered during the summer. This camp is packed with activities and lessons. There is a program structure to the camp, but each camp varies some, depending upon staff and facilities. This article will discuss one camp in particular: St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, in Newport Beach, California. To create positive memories for and give great attention to the needs of the Royal Family Kids’ campers, there is a highly structured program. There is one adult leader for every two campers, and that leader spends 23 hours a day with these two children. That leader is a volunteer who has gone through hours of training, and has given up a week to be with the kids. The leaders spend most of the week building a relationship with the campers through escorting them to all the different activities. Some of these activities include swimming, hiking, playing sports, woodworking, and arts and crafts. Each leader becomes a friend and mentor to the campers, and each night leads the two campers in a nighttime talk in the cabins. This is an opportunity for the kids to talk about some of the things that have happened to them, or a time to do a devotional.

Another major aspect to this camp is the spiritual aspect. Through singing, drama, evening devotionals, and Bible story time, the campers are told the story of the Gospel. The Gospel is presented to them in a way that the children just fall in love with. Each day there is a drama time, in which the camp counselors and some other volunteers put on a play that is created by the Royal Family Kids’ Camp headquarters. There are also songs and music that have a very strong message of love and caring. Then there is another time during which the kids are told Bible stories in a way that is not threatening, but still conveys the message of love that the Gospel brings. These are some of the most important times of the week.

One of the kids’ favorite events occurs during Wednesday evening dinner. There is a giant birthday party thrown for all the kids. Many of these kids, because of their abusive situations, have been forgotten about and neglected to the point that they have never celebrated a birthday. So the camp has cake, ice cream, and a small gift that the counselors select for the kids. This time treasured by each of the kids.

PROGRAM OPERATIONS

It is quite a task to produce one of these camps. Typically, a church or group of churches gather about fifty volunteers who will help out with the project. The camp cost can varies from church to church, but some can cost up to $30,000. The counselors are all volunteer, and the camp director is also a volunteer. Often, the counselors have to pay in order to go (the church mentioned above charges counselors $125). Also needed in order to run are psychologists and camp nurses. There are a series of required training sessions for each volunteer. These sessions teach the counselors how to interact with children who have been neglected and abused. To verify that each counselor is safe for this work, there is also a background check done on each of the volunteers. Also included in setting up the Royal Family Kids’ Camp is finding a campsite. The site chosen in the case study above was in the mountains and had hills to hike on, a pool to swim in, basketball courts, lizards to catch, and a giant dining hall.

PROGRAM TESTIMONIALS

Three campers shared a word from their experience:

1. 
   
2. “I’m very thankful that for one week I have a dad.”
3. “If the kids will just come, then they’ll know how great it is!”
4. “I felt so safe and loved!”

A counselor shared his experience with the camp:

“I am very thankful to have been apart of the Royal Family Kids’ Camp this year. It was wonderful to see how the beautiful little children open up over a period of a week, and wonderful to see how I could help kids who have been abused and neglected.”

IMPLICATIONS

1. The Royal Kids’ Camps is an amazing opportunity for kids who have all too often been forgotten. It reaches out to kids who are hurting inside and offers them a week of experiencing and learning about love. This camp reaches out and offers hope to children who are at risk. It may just last for one week out of the year, but it is hopefully planting a seed that will never die.
2. These children are only able to attend this camp between the ages of 7 to 11, and only for one week a year. This program unfortunately lacks follow-up. The week at camp is a wonderful, but it would be great if there was some long-term program or organization to help them throughout the year.