Advent 3 - Joy

JOY – did you ever go to summer camp?  Can you remember the joy you experienced i.e.  swimming, playing games, camp fires, water sports or music, arts & crafts. 

Camp Ten Oaks is an Ottawa camp for LGBTQ children and children of families who identify.  As one camper said, “Ten Oaks. It’s a break from the homophobia I face every day”.

Hear the Joy when you read some of the Inspiring change stories from the website at -  http://www.tenoaksproject.org/  A donation to Camp Ten Oaks would help bring JOY to a camper this summer.

Following is Sherman’s story –
Sherman
15 years old
Camper since 2011

I’m not like every other teenager and I never will be. But Camp Ten Oaks has shown me that I can be whoever I want to be. And, nobody can ever judge me for that.

I came out as gay when I was 13. I was severely bullied at school and it felt like there was nothing I could do about it. My social worker suggested I go to Camp Ten Oaks and that moment changed my life.

I’ve now been to camp for three years in a row, but I remember not knowing what I signed up for that first year. I’m not normally an outdoors-y person and camp is, well, it’s quite rustic. I couldn’t believe it – not much electricity, outhouses, and never ending stairs!

After a few days though, none of that mattered. I was just having the best time ever.

For the first time I felt like I belonged. There are so many amazing people at camp. Ten Oaks was the first place I felt that nobody judged me. I can’t even put that feeling into words – it’s liberating – the best feeling in the world.

Every summer I’ve gone back to camp, it’s affected my life for the rest of the year. Because of Camp Ten Oaks, I can be more myself than I’ve ever been.

I want to thank everyone with my life who makes camp possible. The Ten Oaks Project has helped and changed me in a way nothing else could.