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Taking the leap for a good cause

Jun 11, 2017 | 4:00 PM

It’s a national fundraiser that’s sure to get people’s hearts racing. The Camp Easter Seals Drop Zone is back for a second year in Prince Albert. 

The event sees participants scale down the L.F. McIntosh Building on Aug. 16, all while raising money for Camp Easter Seals located at Manitou Beach. 

Roxanne Fee, community relations and event coordinator for the Saskatchewan Abilities Council and Camp Easter Seals, said the camp is for children across the province with varying disabilities.

“Barrier free means it’s completely wheel-chair accessible, all of the events are wheel-chair accessible. There’s a pool you can go right into in your wheel-chair,” Lee said.

The camp even offers non-barrier horseback riding, canoeing, hayrides and a few other things.

“Anything that a kid would want to do in the summer at summer camp, they are able to do at Camp Easter Seals,” Lee said.

The camp is free to attend and offers a comfortable atmosphere where kids get to be with others who have similar medical needs. Lee said parents can rest easy knowing there are two nurses on staff, lots of counsellors and that kids will get their medications.

Many Easter Seals families aren’t able to go on regular trips because of things like mobility issues or issues with crowds. Other families deal with medical costs throughout the year and can’t afford camp. This is where Lee said Camp Easter Seals comes in.

“It’s $1,500 per kid, per week if [parents] had to pay for it, so that’s why we do these fundraising events so this is one thing off of this families list of things to pay for,” she said.

The Drop Zone fundraiser began 12 years ago. Lee said the strangeness of the event gets a lot of attention.

 “Often people think it’s going to be just these muscle-head guys, or these thrill seeking people who want to do it but often times its people who have never done anything like this. They have a special attachment to camp, maybe they worked there or attended camp, and they just want to something crazy in the summer,” Lee said.

Participants in the Drop Zone must register online and raise $850. Teams can be created as well. The captain must raise $850, the co-captain $800, and anyone else $700. Teams often do things like bottle drives or barbecues. Lee said the organization also helps people fundraise.

The deadline to register is the beginning of August.

 

 

swallace@panow.com

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