Connecticut Youngsters With Muscular Dystrophy and Community Volunteers Attend MDA Camp

They are extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. And they run the gamut of everyday people.

From wide-eyed, first-year volunteers to big-hearted professional fire fighters, to expert nurses and doctors, they all come together for one cause: the joy, laughter and dreams of the almost 40 children who annually enjoy Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Summer Camp in Hebron, Conn.

Summer Camp will be held at Easter Seals Camp Hemlocks, located at 85 Jones Street, Hebron, Conn., 06248, from August 7 to August 12, 2011. VIP day will be held on August 9th to recognize volunteers and sponsors who make the week-long session of camp possible.

Since MDA’s first camp in 1955, thousands of volunteers from throughout the country have annually helped children with neuromuscular diseases enjoy extraordinary weeks at MDA camp. It’s no different at East Seals Camp Hemlocks in 2011.

Baseball? Got it. Soccer? Yes. Water games? Check. Arts & Crafts? Indeed. This year, every day will be a holiday for campers, as they celebrate July 4th, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, among others. Camp dances, karaoke, swimming, and scavenger hunts round out the activities campers enjoy during their week at MDA camp.

“MDA summer camp is the week that our kids think about year-round,’’ said Stephen Fredericksen MDA Executive Director. “For one week out of the year, they get to be in an environment where having a neuromuscular disease is the norm, not the exception. They have the chance to experience barrier-free activities and make friendships and memories that last a lifetime.’’

The campers are featured guests in what is a loving and inspirational playground known as MDA camp. Stories are plentiful among the long-standing counselors, medical personnel and the children, who truly are the stars of each weeklong camp session. They will inspire you. They will amuse and amaze you with their stories of summer camp experiences.

MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive healthcare and support services, advocacy and education. See the award-winning MDA “Make A Muscle, Make A Difference” PSA.

In addition to funding more than 330 research teams worldwide, MDA maintains a national network of some 200 hospital-affiliated clinics; orchestrates hundreds of support groups for families affected by neuromuscular diseases; facilitates extraordinary local summer camp opportunities for thousands youngsters fighting progressive muscle diseases. Known globally for the MDA Labor Day Telethon, the Association is the first nonprofit to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Medical Association “for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity.”

In the Connecticut area, people with muscle diseases can receive excellent medical and health care services through the MDA clinics at Baystate Medical Center, MDA’s Adult Clinic at Yale School of Medicine, MDA’s Pediatric Clinic at Yale Pediatric Center, Hospital for Special Care, and St. Charles Hospital.

For more information, please contact Regional Public Affairs Coordinator Valerie D’Angiolini at (203) 288-3500 or vdangiolini@mdausa.org or Jennifer Dain, Health Care Service Coordinator, at (203) 248-6500 or jdain@mdausa.org.