By Summerlee Walter
Elizabeth’s buddy made sure I knew about Elizabeth’s most recent accomplishment: a silver medal in soccer at the Special Olympics USA Games held in Orlando the month before. Alli’s buddy encouraged Alli to tell me about the brand-new nephew who occasioned her “Best. Aunt. Ever.” T-shirt. Earlier, I’d overheard a buddy calmly explain to a staff member how he was monitoring his camper’s bowel movements to make sure he received the proper treatment for his gastrointestinal issues. With respect to teenage boys everywhere, it was the first time I’d ever heard one discuss poop in a professional manner.
[Scenes from the carnival and campfire gathering held on the Thursday of HUGS Camp. Photos by Summerlee Walter]
This is HUGS Camp in a nutshell: high school buddies collaborating with a mostly young adult staff to provide their campers, who live with a range of developmental and physical disabilities, with a typical week of summer camp. It’s a careful balance of large-scale logistics—the camp’s three nurses dispense hundreds of medications to campers throughout the day—and careful attention to individual needs. For some campers, receiving the wrong color foam noodle during pool time can ruin the entire day. The buddies know their campers, however, so they distribute pool noodles correctly, call across the water when a favorite song plays over the sound system, and provide multiple gentle reminders when highly anticipated plans change due to COVID-19 precautions or inclement weather.
This year’s camp was especially poignant. For campers, buddies and staff alike, HUGS is the highlight of their year, and the two-year hiatus on in-person camp during the pandemic was difficult for everyone. While HUGS took place digitally in 2020 and 2021, a Zoom meeting is not the same as a live talent show, communal meals, in-person worship, camp songs around the fire, a dance party and an outdoor carnival. Like so many activities, when HUGS returned in full this year, things were different. A few long-time campers had died during the pandemic. Many buddies aged out, and this year’s cohort consisted almost entirely of newcomers. Lead diocesan youth missioner and HUGS maestro Lisa Aycock and the core staff adapted, using the changing landscape to strategize new ways to share leadership and responsibility and to refocus on team-building and respectful partnerships. For examples, “buddies” were previously “helper campers,” but, as the age gap between the high school volunteers and some long-time attendees continues to widen, the idea of a much-younger helper started to irk some campers. (This year, the oldest camper was 64; the youngest, 11.)
That’s what HUGS is: a family affair, whether that family is biological or chosen. When you are part of the HUGS family, you are never alone.
Summerlee Walter is the communications coordinator for the Diocese of North Carolina.
