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Hugs and cheers rule the day at Camp Buddy
Will Throws
Will Kieffer, 5, gets some technical help from speech therapist, Helen Reynolds (behind) and Melinda Hawkins (right) as he works on his balance and coordination by throwing a fluorescent pink and green tennis ball at a Velcro target during motor labs at Camp Buddy. - photo by Photo by Calli Arnold
As soon as she heard the cheers, “Yay, Ella,” Molly Marchese came rushing in the room video camera in hand, beaming. 
 
“Are you playing basketball, Ella?” she said, eager to capture this success on video for her husband to see later that evening.
 
Melinda Hawkins held Ella’s waist as she balanced on a blue, angled step. Molly’s 4-year-old, then threw a cantaloupe-size ball, hitting the ring of a child’s basketball goal. The room cheered once more as Ella’s arms reached upward excitedly. 
 
Ella is one of eight children who attended the two three-day sessions of the Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society’s Camp Buddy at First Baptist Church in Springfield the past two weeks. Camp Buddy is a summer program for children ages 3-6 with Down syndrome. 
 
After Marchese and other parents in LDSS saw the progress their children made during the school year in pre-school intervention classes, they wanted to bridge the gap during the summer months. Using money from the highly successful Buddy Walk fundraiser, Camp Buddy was born.
 
With the help of parent, teen, specialist and therapist volunteers, campers are able to learn while they play through a curriculum built to improve their motor and speech skills while preparing them for their next year of school.
 
“All of these activities are very similar to what we do in special ed. When they have a summer break, they need this practice to keep them going,” said Debbie Snooks, a special ed teacher whose worked with some of the campers and volunteers at Camp Buddy.
 
Snooks also said that the camp offers a chance show parents what they can do at home to improve skills and become more independent.
 
You want your child to reach their fullest potential,” Marchese said, as LDSS co-founder Candy Bogardus concurred.
 
The teen volunteers, some with siblings who have Down syndrome and some who want to work in special ed, learn how to be firm and get the child to accomplish tasks for themselves, with the reward of love and hugs when they do. Camp Buddy also had16-year-old SEHS student Michael Holton — who also has Down syndrome — working as a junior camp counselor to help set up and put away equipment.
 
“(Teenagers) influence their peers to say these kids are great, they’re just a child too, and accept them as they are,” Marchese said.
 
This sentiment is echoed in the DSS slogan: “We are all different…That’s what makes us the same.”
 
Marchese said that in addition to the talented therapists who volunteered their time and facilities that donated the space, the entire community makes Camp Buddy possible.
 
“The community support we’ve receive has been phenomenal, she said. “People do so much, it’s just amazing how generous (they are), and they love our kids. You just can’t thank people enough.”
 
Fifteen children are attending the Chatham County Camp Buddy at Marshpoint Elementary School on July 26, 27 and 28 and Aug. 2, 5 and 7. The LDSS Buddy Walk will be held Oct. 23 at Forsyth Park. For more information visit the LDSS Facebook page or www.ldssga.org.