KSF Inclusive Summer Camps

Physical fitness and opportunities to play with typical peers are unicorns for those of us in the world of disabilities. We choose to seek out and partner with established organizations and create opportunities for inclusion. Our “Play as a Platform” curriculum is designed to come alongside typical outdoor summer youth programs and facilitate inclusive practices in activities like parachutes, flag tag, soccer, and basketball. The goal is to thread all children together through play. Exercise and fitness naturally releases endorphins and dopamine. These natural chemicals input positive energy into the body and make you feel great. When children are in a positive headspace, they are more willing to try new things and incorporate new ideas into their play schemes. This increases the likelihood that inclusive practices will be accepted and used more regularly. Some of the inclusive practices we focus on revolve around turn taking, different approaches to play (i.e. parallel play), following directions using visual supports and raising social awareness of differences that will foster and build friendships. By partnering with youth summer programs, we are raising awareness, increasing acceptance and educating the youngest members of our community and the staff that support them to build a better tomorrow for everyone.

KSF began its community partnership with youth summer programs in 2021. Fit Kids Sports Wide World of Sports (WWS) is an established summer camp with 80 campers per week/session and a terrific reputation. WWS Camp had always been open to kids with disabilities and averaged 1-2 kids per summer. Doug Deffenbaugh, owner and head coach of Fit Kids Sports appreciated the opportunity to join forces with KennedyStrong Foundation and specially invite campers with special needs to come join in the fun. KSF provided special education teachers as Senior Coaches and High School students as Junior Coaches to make it a smoother transition for kids with disabilities to integrate into such an active and dynamic camp. Having specialized coaches on hand gave parents the comfort level they needed to give this full day outdoor sports camp a try. Junior Campers walked away from the experience with training on inclusion, acceptance strategies and a desire to come back and coach again in 2022. Coach Doug, as most know him, excitedly welcomed KSF back for a second summer in 2022. KSF provided specialized training on inclusive practices to his coaching staff while also keeping a Senior Coach and two Junior Coaches onsite for a full 6 weeks. 

The success in 2021 with WWS led KSF into partnership with the City of Concord in 2022.

The City of Concord has run summer programs for county residents since 1980. This well known, highly sought after program, opened their doors to KSF staff with the goal of increasing awareness, acceptance and staff knowledge around inclusive practices when working with children with disabilities. KSF was able to provide specialized inclusion training and support to over 20 city summer staff members and guide implementation of the training by staff to over 200 campers. KSF was able to carry out this mission by retaining staff from 2021, recruiting newly trained volunteers and hosting an intern from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Feedback from campers and staff was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging that ended with an invitation from the city for KSF to come back in 2023. KSF’s reach in the summer of 2022 touched the lives of close to 300 families with and without disabilities and close to 50 staff members from both sites.  

KSF plans to continue to expand our inclusive summer camp partnerships for 2023 and your donation will help us secure more camps and more spots for special kids, talented teachers and high schoolers looking for volunteer hours.