Why do You do so Much for Camp?

Miranda Dukes, Central Nebraska T.R.A.C.

This question is one I often get regarding the time I give to Royal Family KIDS Camp and Teen Reach Adventure Camp. The story I have shared many times is my why. 

One year a little girl got off the bus looking very insecure. Annie walked up to her counselor and mooed in her face like a cow. She only mooed during the week!  

One day, Annie blocked the door to the cabin. As I walked up, she mooed at me. I looked at her and mooed back. She smiled.  

Later that day, she found me and started mooing with me back and forth. At the end of the week when we returned campers to their guardians, Annie gave me a hug.  

“I love you and will miss you, best friend!” 

These words were the first words she said all week.  

Years later, she graduated from Royal Family. Before the ceremony, she gave me a hug. With tears in her eyes, she told me that I was the only person who mooed back.  

Fast forward three years to this past summer.  

It was so good to see Annie again for her last year of T.R.A.C. At the end of the weekend, she walked up to me with her photo album. After giving me a hug, she pulled out a photo of us from the weekend and handed it to me, crying. “Will you keep this?” 

I handed her back the gift, knowing this could be our last photo together and explained, “I’m sorry, but we’re not allowed to have pictures of campers.”  

“How will you remember me?” 

“You hold a very special place in my heart.” I smiled. “Every time I see a cow, I think of you.”  

Annie laughed. “I have every picture of us from the last ten years by my bed. I tell you goodnight and good morning every day.” 

This is why I love these two camp ministries, and why they go hand in hand! Making a difference for ten years in a little girl’s life as she made a difference in my life, too.  

Annie and many others need someone to show them love, even if only for a week, a weekend, or eventually through our mentoring program. All we have to do is say, YES! Yes to volunteering, yes to donating, yes to praying.  

Just say YES and see how God can use you in ways you could never imagine!