Camp Grace holds carnival at Welchel farm in Banner County

Over the weekend Camp Grace held their annual carnival fundraiser, which was attended by many members of the community.

Camp Grace is a non-profit farm therapy camp. One of the only of it's kind in the United States, Camp Grace is a place that helps children with varied abilities. Generally the children who attend require some form of physical, speech, or occupational therapy. Also children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction tend to benefit greatly from the program at Camp Grace.

Laura Welchel, of Banner County, had a therapy dog that she would visit hospital pediatric wards with once a week.

"We saw that the kids did a lot better when they had my dog, Cooper, there. Say their therapist wanted them to walk and they weren't very willing to do it, but if Cooper was there and they got to hold his leash, then it was fun and they wanted to walk and do their therapy," Welchel said.

Soon after the initial idea struck Welchel and the children's therapists searched for a way to take the kids to a farm for a therapy session. The initial farm day proved to be very effective, resulting in the development of the camp.

Welchel decided to donate her farm as the location for what would be Camp Grace, and five years later it's still going strong. The camp assists kids in overcoming some fears they have due to sensory integration disorders.

"A lot of the children are struggling with sensory integration problems, which means that sometimes they're afraid to touch things feel things that might be a weird texture, but you put a baby chick in their hand and it kind of changes things. They're perspective shifts a little," Welchel said.

Camp Grace runs one day a month from May until September. Each day of camp revolves around a different theme.

"Usually the first day of camp's theme is, welcome back to the farm, and the kids get to feed and handle the baby animals. We also have had a transportation theme where kids got to ride in a race car. Having these activities presents the kids with a good kind of peer pressure. They see their friends trying out new things and then they want to as well," Welchel said

It provides the children involved with an incentive to try new things and to accomplish therapy goals outside of a clinical setting.The last Day of Camp is generally a year end fundraiser which allows this non-profit to raise money to keep this camp going and make improvements to benefit the kids.

"Clean Harbors supports the fundraiser for us. We have a barbecue, carnival games and other activities. There are prizes and a silent auction. Without the support from Clean Harbors I don't think we'd be able to put on the carnival and try to raise money, so it's very wonderful that we have their support," Welchel said.

While the camp itself is supported and staffed by volunteer efforts, the camp still has some goals that will rely on more than good intentions. For instance, the current project they are raising money for is a park that will allow the kids a more accessible camp experience.

"We had a landscape architect from Rapid donate his time to help us design a park for the camp. It will have a garden and areas with different textures of grass to appeal to the children. They can feel fferent textures and experience things up close and safely, which is what a lot of them need," Welchel said.

The Welchels have donated a potion of their land for the park to be crated on, and now they are working on getting the funds needed to make this project a reality. In addition to the land TLC out of Scottsbluff has said they will donate the shrubs and other plants needed for the landscaping. This is not the first time TLS has donated plants. They donated the plants that the children planted for their gardening project. Not only have the plans taken into account the needs pertaining to the therapy aspect, but also the physical needs of the children who attend the camp.

"A lot has been changed and reworked as we realize everything that the kids need. For instance, some of the children are still in diapers and their caregivers and parents need to be able to attend to that need when it arises. So we have had some changing stations worked into the plans for the park that will be real nice for the kids and the parents," Welchel said.

Another feature of the park will be its wheelchair and walker accessibility. Some of the children that attend Camp Grace are in wheelchairs and use walkers. Having sidewalks that are wide enough for these types of equipment is a vital part of this park planning.

The park will also have designated areas for different activities. Areas for music, activities in the grass, gardening, and arts and crafts are just a few of the things being incorporated into the design.

We're so excited, especially about the garden area. The gardening has been a big hit. The kids got to plant the food in the garden and then they got to fast what they grew once we harvested it. We ended up making a big salad for everyone and it was really neat to see the kids, some who can't actually eat solid food, get to at least taste the food they grew," Welchel said.

Camp Grace has been able to run five months a year for the past five years due to the immense amount of community support. Everyone involved with the kids aside from parents and therapists are volunteering their time. Without the volunteers Camp Grace would not be able to run as it does.

"We have tremendous community support and it's so important to us that the community know that we appreciate everything. Like, we know this isn't the closest location so with the help of the community we've been able to give some of the kids' parents gas scholarships to help them come out here. So the community plays a big part in helping," Welchel said.

Camp Grace has wrapped up for this year however they will be starting up agin in May. To attend Camp Grace children must be referred by their therapist and either be in or graduated from physical, speech, or occupational therapy.