Eagle Scout Project: Buddy Summer Camp

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William is the son of Steve Chamberlain and Sylvia Chamberlain, both special education educators. Together they created the Buddy Summer Camp Eagle project that started with a GoFundMe page to cover expenses for 11 children. The page fell short of its target but not of its goal.

Fellow Boy Scouts and some of William’s friends joined the project to volunteer as a buddy, but when they didn’t have enough people they reached out to the Girl Scouts who, in line with their “do a good turn daily” motto, responded quickly and filled out the rest of the empty slots.

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Visual aids, sensory breaks, accommodating schedules are all useful resources but were no substitute for the benefits of experiencing friendship.

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Skeptics of the strategy of pairing young, inexperienced volunteers with autistic children were converted after realizing the potency of true affection on children rarely shown comprehension and friendship.

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“‘I feel like I failed,’ a volunteer said, because he couldn’t get him to do something,” Rocio said she overheard one day. “My heart went out to him, because I feel like that every day. But to hear somebody say that … they care.”

Small steps, more details at source:

https://myrgv.com/local-news/2022/07/03/small-miracles-one-boy-scouts-project-inspires-unexpected-transformation/