By ALLI SCHIEBER
Features/Entertainment Editor
Joining Delta Zeta has been one of the best decisions I have made in college.
Delta Zeta has given me many opportunities, including going to Orlando, Florida, this summer for a national convention and the first Everlasting Sisterhood event. Through this event I was able to meet and connect with lots of other Delta Zeta’s and alumni. I also got the opportunity to tour Camp Boggy Creek.
This is a Serious Fun Network camp, which is one of Delta Zeta’s national philanthropies. Serious Fun was founded by the late actor Paul Newman and offers free camps all over the world for kids who have serious illnesses.
I enjoyed being able to tour the facility and see what exactly Delta Zeta raises money for.
These camps are life-changing for the children and their families. They give them the opportunity to meet people just like them and not be defined by their illnesses.While touring the camp, we heard stories from some of the volunteers from the previous week on how it impacted both them and the children.
One of these stories was about a boy and his counselor swimming in the pool. This boy had Cerebral Palsy and could not walk but his counselor was switching him from his wheelchair so that he could get on his back and swim. While doing this, the boy told his counselor that his feet were touching the bottom and he was walking.
The counselor saw this as an opportunity and spent hours helping him walk back and forth the little distance from edge to edge.
The counselor and other staff members were in tears. That boy had never walked before and got to experience what it was like while at camp.
While this is a life-changing camp for these children, some parents have a hard time sending their children.
To make parents feel more comfortable, Camp Boggy Creek and other Serious Fun camps have family weekends to make the parents feel more comfortable. Serious Fun camps also have nurses and doctors that volunteer throughout the summer to help the kids if needed.
The counselors, however, try to keep them out of the hospital room as much as possible by being responsible for giving them their daily medicine.
At the end of family weekends, Camp Boggy Creek has a talent show for both the parents and children.
This is a fun event they have with parents and siblings performing with their children.
We were told a story about a dad who performed a song about the first doctor’s appointment where they got the diagnosis. The whole room was in tears because everyone related to it.
Not only is it good for the children, but the families develop a support system of people who understand what they are going through.
We got the opportunity while touring to make beds in order to help prepare for the next camp.Camp Boggy Creek is quite large with 232 acres. They have three women who do the housekeeping and three men who do the landscaping. We were excited to help them out and make things easier for them.
Anyone interested in joining Delta Zeta should contact Schieber at adschieber37@rangers.nwosu.edu