What Program Participants Have to Say About Us
From Children:
"Thank you for the snacks, doing crafts and glitter glue. It made me feel better about everybody who died. I loved my auntie and grandpa and gg. Have a nice afternoon."
From Parents and Other Adults:
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your encouragement and support. This has been such a wonderful experience for me. I have learned so much and have so appreciated how you have welcomed me."
"Thank you so very much for your patience and understanding. You have helped to guide us in this process, and for that I am extremely grateful. You are a very caring person and that is a characteristic that I rarely see any more. Thank you for your dedication to helping others by sharing with them."
"Thank you for everything. I didn’t ever think I could talk about my pain openly with other people, but you have helped me see that someday I will be able to manage and make a new life for myself."
"Thank you for all your compassion and for listening. Every meeting I would start to feel lighter and lighter as a bit of my “I don’t know what to do with this grief” would lift off. I wasn’t sure what to expect nor was I really expecting the class to do all it did for me. You and your honest transparency made it all that much more effective."
"What you do is amazing! You have such a gentle and patient disposition. This program has taught me a lot about “talking” these things out and working through them. I hope you continue to do your amazing work!"
"My boys LOVED everything about camp, and it was a great learning experince for us all. Also, these are some of the best kids and best volunteers you could ask for in a camp. We're thankful for all the wonderful people involved in putting together Camp Erin."
"Thank you so much for the amazing weekend ad being there for the kids during their hard times."
"Love this group. So support and doing the most important work."
From the Parent of a Camp Erin Camper:
Dear Camp Erin Staff and Volunteers,
I wanted to share with all of you my deepest and greatest appreciation for your hard work, commitment and dedication to my children this past weekend. When a family has experienced a loss as great as ours, you try to do the best you can to get through it. I believe it is something we will never “get over” but it is something that we are “getting through.” As a parent, you want to protect and do everything you can for your kids. You want the best for them and you want them to grow up to be productive, loving, thoughtful human beings. When a tragic event such as ours occurs, thoughts of “I don’t want this to ruin their lives,” “How will they get through this?” “Do I have the strength to get them through this?” or “Will they be productive adults” goes through your mind. While the parent is simultaneously grieving the loss as well. So when I heard about Camp Erin, I thought this might be what my kids need. This could give me validation that they’re ok and them as well.
The last year and a half has been an uphill battle for a fight we never expected. The feeling of joy had been sucked out of my life. I actually shared with my grief counselor that I don’t think I’ll ever experience joy again because it’s been a hard loss. Not only did I lose my husband, love of my life and best friend, but my kids lost their father, the best Dad in the whole world.
So Sunday afternoon, I went to camp to pick up my kids, not knowing what to expect. Just knowing what they were like when I left them just two days prior. I watched my son help present the accomplishments of his cabin with his new friend. I watched my daughter run up to me with a huge smile on her face. I saw them both hugging people who were strangers to them 2 days ago. I experienced almost every counselor come up to me and report how awesome my kids were. Compliments a parent dreams of hearing but doesn’t always get the opportunity. It was so hard to contain my emotions.
As I drove out of camp on that lovely bumpy road, I started thinking of how proud I was of them and “they are getting through this,” “they do have the strength,” and “they can be productive adults.” Then another emotion came over me. It took me a moment to figure it out, then I realized it was JOY!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything. I plan to be involved in the future and I’m fairly sure in a few years you will be getting two new counselors in the group.
"Thank you for the snacks, doing crafts and glitter glue. It made me feel better about everybody who died. I loved my auntie and grandpa and gg. Have a nice afternoon."
From Parents and Other Adults:
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your encouragement and support. This has been such a wonderful experience for me. I have learned so much and have so appreciated how you have welcomed me."
"Thank you so very much for your patience and understanding. You have helped to guide us in this process, and for that I am extremely grateful. You are a very caring person and that is a characteristic that I rarely see any more. Thank you for your dedication to helping others by sharing with them."
"Thank you for everything. I didn’t ever think I could talk about my pain openly with other people, but you have helped me see that someday I will be able to manage and make a new life for myself."
"Thank you for all your compassion and for listening. Every meeting I would start to feel lighter and lighter as a bit of my “I don’t know what to do with this grief” would lift off. I wasn’t sure what to expect nor was I really expecting the class to do all it did for me. You and your honest transparency made it all that much more effective."
"What you do is amazing! You have such a gentle and patient disposition. This program has taught me a lot about “talking” these things out and working through them. I hope you continue to do your amazing work!"
"My boys LOVED everything about camp, and it was a great learning experince for us all. Also, these are some of the best kids and best volunteers you could ask for in a camp. We're thankful for all the wonderful people involved in putting together Camp Erin."
"Thank you so much for the amazing weekend ad being there for the kids during their hard times."
"Love this group. So support and doing the most important work."
From the Parent of a Camp Erin Camper:
Dear Camp Erin Staff and Volunteers,
I wanted to share with all of you my deepest and greatest appreciation for your hard work, commitment and dedication to my children this past weekend. When a family has experienced a loss as great as ours, you try to do the best you can to get through it. I believe it is something we will never “get over” but it is something that we are “getting through.” As a parent, you want to protect and do everything you can for your kids. You want the best for them and you want them to grow up to be productive, loving, thoughtful human beings. When a tragic event such as ours occurs, thoughts of “I don’t want this to ruin their lives,” “How will they get through this?” “Do I have the strength to get them through this?” or “Will they be productive adults” goes through your mind. While the parent is simultaneously grieving the loss as well. So when I heard about Camp Erin, I thought this might be what my kids need. This could give me validation that they’re ok and them as well.
The last year and a half has been an uphill battle for a fight we never expected. The feeling of joy had been sucked out of my life. I actually shared with my grief counselor that I don’t think I’ll ever experience joy again because it’s been a hard loss. Not only did I lose my husband, love of my life and best friend, but my kids lost their father, the best Dad in the whole world.
So Sunday afternoon, I went to camp to pick up my kids, not knowing what to expect. Just knowing what they were like when I left them just two days prior. I watched my son help present the accomplishments of his cabin with his new friend. I watched my daughter run up to me with a huge smile on her face. I saw them both hugging people who were strangers to them 2 days ago. I experienced almost every counselor come up to me and report how awesome my kids were. Compliments a parent dreams of hearing but doesn’t always get the opportunity. It was so hard to contain my emotions.
As I drove out of camp on that lovely bumpy road, I started thinking of how proud I was of them and “they are getting through this,” “they do have the strength,” and “they can be productive adults.” Then another emotion came over me. It took me a moment to figure it out, then I realized it was JOY!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything. I plan to be involved in the future and I’m fairly sure in a few years you will be getting two new counselors in the group.
