Giving Camp gives weekend escape to local adults, kids

A program designed to engage local residents with special needs took place in Cousens Gym this past weekend at Tufts' inaugural Giving Camp. Dozens of guests and volunteers gathered over the three-day weekend to participate in fun, organized activities for those with mental and physical challenges.

Each day of the weekend was assigned a certain theme -- Saturday's theme was sports, Sunday's was celebrations, and Monday's theme was culture. On Saturday, the main event was volleyball, but those attending also had the option of participating in painting or making glitter pictures. Attendants and volunteers broke out into song as they threaded bead necklaces and created stamp art.

The program's festivities attracted the attention of campus groups such as the Traveling Treasure Trunk, which performed on Saturday, and Turbo, which performed on Sunday.

Though this was the first Tufts Giving Camp event, planning has been underway for years. Tufts alumna Diane Ricciardelli had volunteered for several years at a camp which allowed people with special needs to participate in activities with the guidance of volunteers, but she wanted to create an alternative that would not be as exclusive.

Since then, Ricciardelli has received support from the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) through the Omidyar Scholars program. The group had expanded to include seven members by this past September.

The Giving Camp aims to expand its programming to include events at other schools. Speaking of her future plans for the Giving Camp, Ricciardelli said that she is "hoping other colleges will want to incorporate the model that you see here at Tufts." Ricciardelli is already working with students at Babson College to create a similar event there.

In order to advertise the Tufts program and recruit adult guests, the organizers worked with the Walnut Street Center, a non-profit agency that provides support services to those who face mental or physical challenges. Children who participated in the event were reached through Tufts Daycare and the Somerville and Medford Special Education departments.

In addition to guests and volunteers, some parents and employees from the Walnut Street Center participated in the days' events.

Volunteers from both Woburn High School and Tufts were impressed with the level of community involvement and described the Giving Camp as a challenging and rewarding experience. "I have never worked with [a program like the Giving Camp], and the idea struck me as being innovative and fun for both the guests and students who chose to become involved," Omidyar Scholar Cristina Zahara said.

The core group plans to pass the project along to another interested campus group. The Child Development Association has expressed a strong interest and hopes to co-sponsor the Giving Camp with other Tufts groups in the future. Plans are already in place to host the Giving Camp twice a year -- once over a weekend in October and once in April.