A canopy of trees shaded the little enclosure. A crowd of youngsters stood along the upper reaches and watched as their fellow campers took turns cantering around the clearing on horseback.
They smiled. They laughed. They teased their camp counselors about who had done a better job atop the steed.
What they’ve been through doesn’t matter here. At this campground, under the sun, among the trees, they can forget the hardships and heartbreak they’ve faced in their young lives.
Here, they can just be kids.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryMore than 30 at-risk kids from Hancock and Henry counties spent the week running around a campground participating in the annual Royal Family KIDS Camp hosted by Wilkinson Church of Christ.
For 17 years, volunteers from the Hancock County church have invited dozens of local kids who have suffered some kind of abuse, neglect or abandonment to have a weeklong summer-camp experience, free of charge. More than 60 volunteers come together to make the camp a reality.
It’s one of seven Royal Family KIDS Camp locations in Indiana. Another 200 of the organization’s faith-based camps are conducted across the globe.
Most of the youngsters who participate in the camps are in the state’s foster care system, meaning their lives are typically full of strain and instability, said Stacey Jones, the executive director of the local program.
Royal Family KIDS Camp provides an opportunity to these disadvantaged children that they might not otherwise have, Jones said. It gives them something to look forward to, a family of sorts to rely on and allows them to escape from the stresses of their everyday lives.
“We get them out of survival mode and let them be kids,” she said.
Royal Family KIDS first began offering its summer camps in 1985, when a California couple saw a need to create “moments that matter” for kids in foster care, according to the nonprofit’s national website.
The camps are open to kids aged 6 to 12. Jones contacts Indiana Department of Child Services caseworkers in Hancock and Henry counties to find children who would be interested in participating in the camp.
Many campers come back year after year, she said.
For some kids, it’s a chance to visit with friends who have faced some of the same tough circumstances they have. Others are reunited at camp with biological siblings they’d split from when they entered foster care.
They spend a week together, swimming, fishing, horseback riding and doing arts and crafts. Each child is patterned with two volunteers, typically young adults and teens, who serve as their buddy and mentor throughout the week. This gives them the opportunity to spend a lot of one-on-one time with people who can become their friend and confidant, Jones said.
Each camper leaves at the end of the week with a keepsake photo album filled with images of their time with Royal Family KIDS, she said. They’re also able to take home extra clothes, books, school supplies and toys they might not otherwise have.
The relationships kids form with the camp staff often continue away from camp, said Tony Darling, a camp volunteer and member of the Wilkinson Church of Christ.
Darling runs a Royal Family KIDS mentoring program, where kids meet regularly from September to May with the same volunteers who serve as their camp counselors over the summer. This ensures kids have a stable role model in their lives year round, he said.
The camp has a lasting impact on everyone involved, Jones said. Some campers even come back to serve as counselors once they’re old enough, she said.
Sixteen-year-old Nikko Pierce attended Royal Family KIDS Camp as an elementary-schooler and has now joined the staff as a volunteer. This was his first year back at camp in his new role.
He cherishes the memories he made as a camper, and now he wants to do all he can to ensure other kids have the same great experience.
“I’ll definitely keep coming back,” he said.