It's interesting that our society in general has drifted into a type of value system, based upon the monetary worth of an individual. We teach our kids to be successful, to be wealthy. We work for their future, to send them to higher education, to help them reach their goals - and ours. And we worry that those who don't excel are somehow a debt on society. Geneticists propose nowadays, the 'intervention' of new genes to modify a generation to be more productive, more intelligent, more moral, more normal than normal.

I spend summers with about forty developmentally disabled people at camp with my son, Kit, who has Down Syndrome. Some of the campers are in their fifties, some are teens. Some work in the kitchen, fixing my meals; some help me at cleaning the pool each morning. All of them come to camp to learn about themselves and to teach me lessons no one else could.

Some worry when we talk, that they would never become 'valuable' people - doctors, business people, teachers. I try to tell them that value is an inside thing - who you are, rather than what you learn to do, or how much money you earn.

I love being around the campers as well as the counselors every camping week of summer. Many of the campers have shells to come out of, or self-confidence and reliability to discover. But, the counselors are a different story all together. They are immersed in a group who knows no jealousy, who hold no animosity, no hatred, no prejudices of color or age or all the things which so often make someone popular or unpopular. These 'normal' counselors find themselves confronted on every turn with smiling faces and unconditional love and trust. I watch them grow in stature and spirit, in compassion and grace and human kindness right before my eyes.

I think the young counselors come to a special camp like this with an open heart, and leave with a burden of love which sustains them and defines them the rest of their lives. I expected Kit to build strong bonds to his counselors, but I actually was surprised how much I came to respect and love them myself. They simply learned to reflect the nature of the campers, and made it part of themselves.

Maybe this is the real 'value' of such special people. Perhaps they are the teachers and we only have to look within ourselves to find the light they hold so near their surface and which we bury under daily cares and pretense.

This is what we are about, what our goals are, what the Idaho Special Camps Foundation is dedicated to. We want our special-needs community in Idaho to have the opportunity of summer camp, and we want our normal-needs communities to gain from their interaction with us.

We now operate a small social/recreation center in a home in Nampa, for a group of local special-needs individuals, where they can gather, play games, share meals and laughter and just generally hang out with friends. If you know of a special-needs person who would like to join us, there is no charge and we'd love to have them. We'd also love to have you - we need volunteers with help and encouragement to make our dream come true. There's so much need here and so much opportunity for us to accomplish something truly good and lasting. Let's not let another special-needs kid or adult slip through the cracks into a non-life of isolation, self-doubt and despair. Let's not let another kid become a well-loved, but invisible family heirloom. Let's build a legacy which will live beyond us. Let's build a camp!