Special Friends Camp at Warm Beach Camp is place where physically and mentally disabled adults can come to have a one-of-a-kind camping experience. Each camp is staffed by individuals who want every camper to have the time of their life. Every camper gets the chance to participate in all the activities Warm Beach Camp has to offer; horseback riding, swimming, climbing the 40-foot climbing tower, or flying down the zip line. Each camper can also participate in craft time, chapels and a long list of other activities.

At the close of each week, campers gather together for a final chapel time and the summer of 2013 was no different. One afternoon during the closing chapel, one particularly quiet camper rose to his feet and stood in front of all 50 Special Friends campers and their buddies. He seemed so small there in the middle of so many people, but he began to sing quietly. After a few moments the words became clear. Slowly and intentionally he sang, “Jesus loves the people, Jesus loves the people,” over and over. Then he stopped and extended his arms, as though to embrace each section of the amphitheater, and sang, “ALL, ALL, ALL,” until he had sung it to each and every section.

Laurie Fertello, Disabilities Ministries Director, said, “He was singing his own version of Jesus Loves the Little Children.” And that’s what Special Friends Day Camp is all about, letting every camper know that Jesus loves them.

Warm Beach Camp’s Special Friends Day Camp is one of the few camps in Washington State that serves persons age 15 and up who have special needs. Just one hour north of Seattle in north Snohomish County, Special Friends Day Camp offers campers amazingly creative camp activities in a highly supervised, supportive setting. Each camper is matched with a volunteer “Buddy,” who engages with them in the camp experience. For more information and to register for Special Friends Camp, visit https://www.warmbeach.com/programs/special-needs-programs.

Be a Special Friends volunteer – It’s a life-changing experience! Every volunteer means one more camper can attend. For more information, visit https://www.warmbeach.com/programs/special-needs-programs/special-friends-day-camp-volunteers