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Find out how you can make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities
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True Friends Family of Services
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NEWS & NOTES
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Friday, May 27, 2016
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CAMP STAFF ARE HERE: Staff from all over the world are arriving on site for training, fun and bonding before a great summer with our campers... Here they are learning a new game called Archery Tag!
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THE COUNTDOWN IS ON: Spots are filling fast, find your perfect session and
register today!
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Meet the Staff
Emma Payne, United Kingdom
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Emma, at right, with friends Claire, Chad, Tom
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Assistant Program Director Emma Payne, who hails from the United Kingdom, returned to Camp Friendship on Saturday to start training for her fifth summer working at True Friends. "It's where I'm happiest," Emma says. Her long journey is worth it, because she helps campers do things they never imagined themselves doing.
"Seeing people in wheelchairs, who have never been off the ground before, use the specialized chair to take them up the rock wall; that's amazing," Emma shared. "These are the best parts of camp that you would not be able to see anywhere else."
Emma says her camp experiences have completely changed her as a person and have helped her plan her future. "I know now that I want to work with people with disabilities." She never thought she'd be able to make a career out of her passion, until working at Camp Friendship. Although she's unsure what the future will hold exactly, Emma hopes to make this fifth summer at camp the best one yet!
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Volunteers
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Top:
C.H. Robinson completed their annual day of service to prepare Camp Eden Wood for summer campers and attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new playground!
Bottom left: Target volunteers got creative making journals for campers through
Hands on Twin Cities!
Bottom right:
Miller A&B volunteers painted five picnic tables at Camp Courage!
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Save the Date
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June 25 - Tasting for True Friends - 6-9 p.m. at Cobb Creek Vineyard in Wells, MN. Tickets are $20 and include a wine glass, wine and beer tasting, hors d'oeuvres, entertainment and door prizes. Tickets must be purchased in advance by calling Sue Boeck at 507.383.3451 or Jim Beach at 507.391.3773
July 9 - Tee It Up For Campers -
A 4-person best shot - starting at 11 a.m. at Oakview Golf Course in Freeborn, MN. A $55 entry fee will include golf registration, lunch and a beverage. For more information, contact Jim Beach at 507.391.3773
July 18 - Circle of Friends Golf Classic -
8 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Medina Golf and Country Club. There is a $200 entry fee. The event features a morning and afternoon shotgun start, lunch and dinner, prizes, silent and live auction and a wonderful evening of activities and dinner for non-golfers ($40)
July 25 - Paul's Pals Golf Classic - 12:30 p.m. tee-off at the Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins, MN. There is a $350 entry fee, which includes lunch and heavy evening hors d'oeuvres, prizes, a silent and live auction. Non-golfers are welcome to attend an evening of activities and dinner ($100)
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Giving is Good
Steak Fry brings in $19K for camp
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| The group of dedicated volunteers who organized the event. |
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A local group of volunteers organized the annual Steak Fry at Camp Friendship, raising a record-breaking $19,000 in support of camper scholarships. The event drew over 450 attendees and included steaks cooked by the Clearwater Lions, raffles and a silent auction. A troop of Boy Scouts from Annandale bussed the tables and cleared trash during the event.
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On behalf of all of us at True Friends, we want to thank all of the volunteers and donors who were involved in making this year's Annual Steak Fry at Camp Friendship the wonderful success that it was. More people attended and more money was raised at the event than ever before in its history. We want to especially recognize members of the Clearwater Lions Club, community volunteers, Camp Friendship Auxiliary and the Boy Scouts of America-Annandale Chapter for their dedicated efforts in support of the event," said Chief Development Officer of True Friends, Gary Wagner.
THANK YOU!
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True Friends Can...
see a new veteran's program in action
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 True Strides hosted SPARTA May 22-27 for the first group in a new program called Peace Warrior Project. This vets-healing-vets program is a five-day mission set in the serene woods of Camp Courage.
SPARTA is a program that helps warriors with PTSD. It is a five-day retreat that includes meditation, contemplative activities, ropes courses, equine assisted counseling and the "age-old practice of using myth, story, ritual and personal narrative to create new practices that detoxify the warrior of moral injury." Learn more about SPARTA
here.
Find more pictures from the week on the
True Strides Facebook page.
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We redid Birch Hall at Camp Eden Wood! Check out Facebook to see all the fun!
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Follow us on Instagram for behind the scenes of staff training (death star thumb wars) and other great camp pics all summer long!
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