Camp Gifford Salvation Army’S Program Offers Week Of Fun, Ministry

When Angie Wallin arrived at summer camp, she was a stranger.

By the next day, she had at least 10 new friends and everybody knew her name.

“I’m 11; I’m the oldest in the cabin,” exclaimed Wallin, who celebrated her birthday last Tuesday before 130 buzzing children thrilled to be in childhood paradise.

It’s the Salvation Army’s Camp Gifford, an 80-year-old camp on Deer Lake, north of Spokane.

For the kids, it’s a weeklong slumber party complete with swimming at the beach, making papier-mache and beaded necklaces and getting to know counselors they emulate.

For the Salvation Army staff, it’s a chance to minister to youths, positively shape their lives and introduce them to the love of Christ.

On the second day of camp, Wallin was called to stand at the front of the cafeteria after dinner. As her face burned bright red, the male counselors gathered around her and delivered a happy birthday serenade.

The squeal of girls reached an ear-piercing pitch.

For some kids, it’s their second or third year at Camp Gifford. And for many newcomers, it is their first extended trip away from home.

“The kids are amazing, though sometimes they can be challenging,” said camp director Jeff Potts.

The camp caters to low-income families and has sliding fees for parents who otherwise couldn’t afford to send their children. The Salvation Army also brings kids from its homeless shelter in Spokane. And the camp is getting more foster children as the Salvation Army expands its networking with social service agencies.

“They really need love,” said Jonathon Waunch, 19, of Deer Park, the camp’s recreation director. “We try to provide unconditional love, a fun place, and to share the Gospel with them.”

The six-day sessions for 7- to 12-year-olds will run through Aug. 25. For the first time, Camp Gifford is launching a three-day “peewee camp” for 5- and 6-year-olds in early August. There also is a wilderness camp for teenagers.

Marissa Malone, 10, of Coeur d’Alene, is back for her third summer.

“I like the counselors and meeting their friends,” said Malone. “At the end of camp, you don’t want to go home.”

The kids bunk in A-frame cabins, which are known as “boys town” and “girls town.”

The camp is finishing a 10,800-square-foot dining hall overlooking the lake to replace the original one, less than half the size. The project is being funded by the Salvation Army’s Women’s Auxiliary, the Comstock Foundation and private trusts.

The camp also has new docks, paddle boats and a climbing wall, thanks to the auxiliary.

Several of the counselors and volunteers were campers during their pre-teen years. Other counselors come from around the world, having trained at the Salvation Army’s leadership school in Australia.

“We have so many volunteers who have been campers,” said Rebecca Gain, 22, of New Zealand, who is the camp’s program director. “That’s evidence of what happened to them here as a child was meaningful.”

Other counselors come from India, Germany, Zimbabwe and Australia.

“You get paid to lead kids to Christ and go water-skiing,” said counselor Andi Rogers, 16, of Spokane, a former camper of several years. “Almost all of our activities have to do with Scripture.”

But the Scriptures take on kid-friendly forms. When campers say grace before each meal, for example, they sing their prayers to the themes of “The Flintstones” and “The Addams Family.”

While bringing kids closer to God is the focus, there are nonetheless prepubescent distractions.

“I have a boyfriend,” announces Savannah Olmos, 11, of Colville, while cooking cinnamon and sugar apples over a campfire during an outdoor cooking class. “I met him yesterday. I had a different boyfriend at lunch, but I dumped him.”

Olmos said both her mother and grandmother attended the camp when they were young.

Camp medical director Lee Hodin, 22, has the camp to thank for bringing his parents together.

“My parents met here at camp,” he said. “My mom was a counselor and my dad was skiing by and saw her lying on the dock. He fell from there.”

As the camp nurse, Hodin treats his share of bloody noses and scraped elbows. But perhaps the most common illness he sees is homesickness among the younger campers.

“Nausea and headaches - that usually means they are homesick,” said Hodin, who is an experienced emergency medical technician.

In addition to water and aspirin, Hodin has a few other cure-alls to make kids feel better.

“I’ll lay them down during the fun activities with the window open,” he said. “Usually they’re better in about 10 minutes.”

And then, there is the magical healing cream.

“That’s for the broken arm that heals in seconds,” he said. “They just want a little attention.”

There are still openings in the remaining camp sessions. Interested families may call camp coordinator Krista Williams at 325-6810 for more information.

For a list of other summer camps in the region, visit www.spokane.net. Click on “summer camps” under the “Lazy Days of Summer” heading.