What’s the best part about Easterseals New Hampshire’s Camp Sno-Mo? Alton Central School 7th grader Izayiah might tell you it’s the camp counselors.
In addition to assisting them with their daily living and personal care activities, counselors work hard to create life-changing experiences for the campers they support by participating in various outdoor recreational activities in a group setting.
Izayiah quickly forged strong friendships with several camp staff during his weeklong session. “All he kept raving about was the counselors and how nice they were to him,” Izayiah’s grandmother, Lisa, shared. “Two of them still correspond with him to this day. They text back and forth once or twice a week, which is just amazing.”
Izayiah, who has cerebral palsy and seizures, had gone to day camps in the past, but Camp Sno-Mo would be his first overnight experience. A family friend who happens to be involved in the camp’s fundraising efforts through one of the local snowmobile clubs suggested he consider attending. “He was really hesitant to go at first,” Lisa said of Izayiah’s decision to attend.
But after encouraging him to visit the camp during its annual open house, Izayiah became interested. “He was intrigued by all the activities he would get to do,” Lisa said. “He ended up loving it.”
Izayiah got to go horseback riding and canoeing, create his own arts and crafts projects, and even challenge his counselors to friendly matches of one of his favorite games: chess. His mid-July session also coincided with Camp Sno-Mo’s annual fishing derby on the final day. Each year, officers from New Hampshire Fish & Game come by to fill the camp’s conservation pond with freshwater fish, giving campers a chance to catch some.
Even after Izayiah’s session concluded, it wouldn’t be his final visit to camp. “The day before the counselors left to go back home, we got in touch with Chris, the director, to see if Izayiah could come back and say goodbye to them,” Lisa said. “Chris, of course, said, ‘By all means, come right over,’ and so he went up for the afternoon and played cards with the counselors before they had to leave to go back home.”
Lisa appreciated not only the opportunity for her grandson to engage in a wide array of activities but also the camp’s overall welcoming atmosphere. Izayiah has already asked about the possibility of returning to camp in the future, expressing interest in attending for two or even three weeklong sessions.
“They really treat the kids like family,” Lisa said of the camp. “I would recommend it to anybody and everybody.”
Learn more about Camp Sno-Mo by visiting eastersealsnh.org/camp.