“As soon as we started with the Coronavirus, I was only talking to 1 or 2 people… and it’s honestly been driving me crazy! Because I don’t think I would be here right now if I couldn’t talk to people. And actually interact playing games, not just like school and listening to people and people don’t even turn on their camera so you can’t like actually talk to them.”
Lucia, Moorelands’ camper, age 12.
Lucia is one of the many children who has learned and grown at Moorelands Kids’ Virtual Programs over the past year. A participant in our BLAST after-school programs, Lucia signed up for online camp programming for one week last summer… and loved it so much she asked her mom to send her back week after week!
There have been many unexpected benefits to having the opportunity to run an online camp. For example, campers are able to register for more than one week and access programming, learning and community connections at their family’s schedule.
Many of our families have shared that although they registered for camp earlier in the year with hopes that things would be safer by the summer, they are happy about virtual camp as they would not be comfortable letting their children attend in person.
Here’s what Lucia has to say about why she loves our online camp programs!
“Here at Moorelands, it’s different from school. One, because you don’t get homework. You actually get to interact with others. The chat’s open and you can actually talk to other people. We play games altogether and you can talk to them – it’s so different from school because at my school it’s just everybody with their cameras off and their microphones off too. So it’s just looking at a screen…
“I find it really fun. After I went for the first week, I really wanted to come back. So I told my mum that I wanted to go for a second week and then I started making actual friends! That’s what is so good about Moorelands. I met a lot of people and new friends and Moorelands has connected more of those people for me.
“If I was talking to someone who was nervous about going to online camp, I would tell them that it’s ok because it’s really, REALLY fun and they would make a bunch of new friends. And if they’re in the same group as me, then I’m already one of their friends!”
We’re so grateful to Lucia for sharing her story! Help Lucia, and kids like her, get to online camp this summer. Please make a donation today!
At Moorelands Kids, our vision is to empower kids to transform their lives. It costs $1,530 to send a child to Moorelands’ virtual camp. Please make a donation today to help send a child to camp this summer. Any amount you choose to give will make a difference!
