The Magic of Camp Boggy Creek By Julie Conlin



Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to volunteer at Camp Boggy Creek, a proud charity of IMSA. Boggy Creek was founded in 1996 by Paul Newman and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, with one simple premise in mind - that every child, no matter their illness, could experience the transformational spirit and friendships that go hand in hand with camp.




This was my third time volunteering as a “family pal” and this past weekend’s illness groups served were Spina Bifida and Hemophilia. On Family Retreat Weekends, kids with serious illnesses get to bring their families with them and every family member is considered a camper.
Time spent at Boggy Creek isn’t only magical for the campers, it’s magical for the volunteers as well, and that magic keeps bringing me back each year!
As part of the IMSA volunteer weekend, three other IMSA colleagues volunteered: Helen Pardee and Emily Nash, who work in the IMSA Marketing Department, and Amanda Peters who works with me at Sunday Group Management. While Helen, Emily and I had all volunteered before, the weekend was Amanda’s first, and we were so happy to have her with us!
Family retreat weekends follow largely the same format each time - see more details about family retreats and the role of a family pal in the story I wrote following my first Volunteer Weekend: Boggy Blog: A Weekend to Remember at Camp Boggy Creek | Sunday Group Management
In the two previous Boggy weekends that I’d been a part of, I was paired with a family with multiple children, and therefore had a second co-pal. This year, I had just one child in my family so I was the only “pal” assigned to the family. It was a bit of a different dynamic, but also really great to get to just focus on one camper and really connect with her and her parents. Witnessing my camper experiencing activities that she doesn’t get to do in her everyday life, like horseback riding, woodshop and the dance, was so inspiring.
The theme of the weekend was Woodstock, so it was definitely a groovy weekend! Check out our outfits for the camp dance!
It seems that no matter the retreat weekend, there is always one magical moment that stands out for me more than the others. This year, it came at the very end of the weekend.
As most drivers in the IMSA paddock know, winners of each race receive a “Boggy Bear” – stuffed bears that are generously made by volunteers throughout Florida. These Boggy Bears are given to every single camper to take home with them to help remember the spirit of Boggy back in their everyday lives. At the end of the weekend, my camper gave me her Boggy Bear for me to bring back home! I was so truly touched by the gesture because I know just how special these bears are to each camper.
On my flight home to Indiana Sunday night, I started thinking about just how many people Camp Boggy Creek serves. I don’t know the number, but between the many Family Retreat Weekends and summer camp, it has to be A LOT. There were 26 families at camp over this past weekend, and add in the volunteers and the staff, that is a whole lot of people!
To think that this camp is completely free to every single family, almost baffles my mind. It’s a camp that solely runs on the support of generous people who believe in the heart of Boggy. So thank you to everyone who has supported Camp Boggy Creek in some capacity over the past 20 years. I’ve seen firsthand the impact your contributions have on these special campers and it is simply amazing.
And if you’ve ever thought about volunteering for a weekend and experiencing the magic for yourself, I encourage you to join us at the next IMSA weekend or even choose a weekend to volunteer on your own. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
If you have any questions about my volunteer experiences at camp, come find me in the IMSA paddock and I’d be happy to share more of my times at Boggy with you!
Camp Boggy Creek is celebrating its 20[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary in 2016 – to learn more or support Camp Boggy Creek, visit www.boggycreek.org.

By Julie Conlin