"I want to send along our personal thank you to everyone involved in Camp Encourage. When we adopted (our son) six years ago, we had the same kinds of hopes and dreams that all new parents have for their children. He would play baseball with a Little League team -- he would have a bunch of friends and get invited to fun birthday parties -- he and his friends would have slumber parties -- he would hang out with his Dad and watch football on Sunday afternoons and talk about his favorite players. We have never enjoyed any of these pretty simple moments in childhood -- instead we have a precious boy who spends hours reading or playing on his computer - a precious boy who has never been invited for a play-date or to a birthday party -- a precious boy who doesn't understand sports - who is clumsy and who hates being in the sun and getting hot. We have a precious little boy who wants to have friends and doesn't understand why he eats alone every day during the lunch hour.
The few days he spent at Camp Encourage were the highlights of the past six years he has spent in America. He had friends to hang out with -- he was part of the gang -- he understood the other children and they understood him -- he met kids with interests like his -- he got to laugh with other kids about things he thinks are funny. He felt like a typical kid .... for a few days!
I caught myself crying during the slide show the last day of camp --- I also caught my husband crying as he watched (our son) having so much fun -- smiling ear to ear -- and doing things that we have always wanted him to do with other children. It made our hearts burst seeing him having so much fun -- you will never know how happy we were watching that slide who. For the first time, his younger brothers and sisters got to see him as the big brother -- the one that got to go to the really cool camp last summer.
We thank everyone - the organizers - the supporters - the volunteers - the counselors -- the peer models. You each made a huge difference in his life -- in just a few short days. He has photos from camp on his bulletin board in his room -- he talks about his "friends from camp". He walks prouder -- he stands taller - and he smiles bigger from a few short days at Camp Encourage.
We are sincerely grateful to each of you!"