Special-needs camp kicks off

Rachel Butler, a staff volunteer, and camper Travis Jeter are all giggles and grins at the Champions Special Ministries summer camp for kids and adults with disabilities Monday at The River Church in Durango. The camp has 16 “champers” so far, and 17 staff members and volunteers.

HANNA MARTENS/Durango Herald

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Rachel Butler, a staff volunteer, and camper Travis Jeter are all giggles and grins at the Champions Special Ministries summer camp for kids and adults with disabilities Monday at The River Church in Durango. The camp has 16 “champers” so far, and 17 staff members and volunteers.

HANNA MARTENS/Durango Herald

Ellis Anderson, 5, is one of 16 “champers” at a Champions Special Ministries summer camp for kids and adults with special needs. Ellis was participating in an Olympic game activity. The weeklong camp at The River Church in Durango, for people of all ages with disabilities, is still accepting campers.

HANNA MARTENS/Durango Herald

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Ellis Anderson, 5, is one of 16 “champers” at a Champions Special Ministries summer camp for kids and adults with special needs. Ellis was participating in an Olympic game activity. The weeklong camp at The River Church in Durango, for people of all ages with disabilities, is still accepting campers.

HANNA MARTENS/Durango Herald

A weeklong camp for special-needs children and adults kicked off Monday in Durango, and five spots are still available, organizers said.

Participants do everything from playing kickball and basketball to going on a rafting trip with Adaptive Sports Association.

“Quite a few adults have never been able to go to camp before, so it’s their first time and exciting,” said Joy Larson, Champions Day Camp coordinator.

The camp is one of five that Champions Special Ministries, a Kansas-based nonprofit, is putting on across the country.

Larson met the organization’s founder, Alison Gromer, at an overnight camp Larson volunteered at last summer, and she has been working with Gromer ever since to get a camp in Durango.

It’s the first year the camp has come here, but Larson hopes to make it an annual event.

“I just really have a heart for kids and adults,” Larson said. “These kids and adults with special needs and families are just as precious and valuable and a part of our society as anyone else, but a lot of times they are made to feel otherwise.”

The camp continues today through Friday at The River Church, 860 Plymouth Drive. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today through Thursday and 1 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. Cost of the camp is $265, but the price will be prorated for how many days are left. Some scholarships are available.

jdahl@durangoherald.com