Camp Seale Harris

A Camp for Children Living With Diabetes

 Camp Seale Harris, held at Camp ASCCA in Jackson's Gap, Alabama, serves hundreds of diabetic children each summer. The camp calendar consists of four one-week sessions in May and June and four Family Weekends throughout the year. Camp Seale Harris focuses love and energy toward teaching diabetic children how to live and cope with their condition.

Programs at CSH are designed to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for children with diabetes, while allowing the kids to see that diabetes can't hold them back from anything they aspire to do. All activities are led by trained Camp personnel.

I started attending Camp Seale Harris when I was 10 years old. I went every year as a camper until I turned 16, at which time I started in the CIT program. This program is run in order to train former campers and other interrested teens to be effective, responsible counselors. After two years in the CIT program, I got my chance to be a counselor for Camp Seale Harris. That was the summer of 1999 and I haven't missed a summer session since then. In 1999 and 2001, I was recognized as Best Counselor during one of the summer sessions. I enjoy going to camp every chance I get. I will even drive 5 hours, from Tallahassee, Florida to Camp ASCCA in Central Alabama, just to attend for a 2-day weekend. I haven't missed too many of those weekends in the recent past, but when I do, I am miserable because I know that I could have been there under different circumstances.

As I camper, I learned how to give my shots in different places and learned how to better handle diabetes. Camp taught me more than any classroom could...camp instills a spirit in those involved that lives throughout the year...camp is part of me. But more than anything else, camp has given me some wonderful friends...a second family, if you will...a group of people who truly understand what I am feeling when my blood sugar is high or low and know what to do about it...people I can talk to about diabetes and get candid answers... friendships that I will cherish forever, long after I leave camp for the last time. Almost anybody can volunteer their time and energy to a camp like this, but it is a special group of people who will devote their lives to it. Charlotte and Sam Eichold, Zula and Joe Walters, and Dr. Caffey, to name a few, have unselfishly given of their money, time, energy, and love to see that camp grows strong and prospers. Thanks to their efforts and those of countless others, Camp Seale Harris, and its spirit will surely live on for years to come. I am but one who was touched. There are thousands more who have been effected by camp. My story is not unique...that is what makes camp so unique.

Here are some more short slideshows of pictures we took with the Polaroid Camera this summer. BD donated a camera and lots of film and we had a blast...enjoy. Also, if you are interrested in individual pictures in the slideshows, contact me and I can e-mail you better-quality copies.

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