WVNG Hosts Final Day Camp for Flooded Communities

Photo By Sgt. Zoe Morris | Saturday, under a bright blue fall sky, kids from around Clay County gathered at the county high school for a Kids Kamp held by the West Virginia National Guard.  

CLAY, WV, UNITED STATES

09.26.2016

Story by Sgt. Zoe Morris 

153rd Public Affairs Detachment

CLAY, W.Va. -- Saturday, under a bright blue fall sky, kids from around Clay County gathered at the county high school for a Kids Kamp held by the West Virginia National Guard.
This is the fourth day camp hosted by the WVNG in areas affected by the June flooding that displaced many West Virginians and interrupted the summers of hundreds of children across the state.
“Normally every year the National Guard in West Virginia holds a camp at Camp Dawson for youth leaders and also younger children,” explained WVNG’s Command Chief Warrant Officer Steve Owens, who attended and helped plan all four day camps this year. “During the massive flooding in June, Gen. (James) Hoyer asked us to cancel that camp and take the camp on the road to go into the flood affected areas.”
Day camps were held at Coonskin Park and Armory, Charleston, in partnership with the YMCA, the Lewisburg WVNG Armory, The Summit Bechtel Reserve Boy Scout Camp and Clay County High School.
Staff. Sgt. Monica Willis, a Soldier with the 3664th Maintenance Co., said she was excited when she heard there was an opportunity to volunteer in Clay County, where she has spent a lot of time as a substitute teacher, especially in hard-hit H.E. White Elementary School.
“I think anything we can do for the kids (is great), specially when they’ve been through such devastation and had such tragedy in their lives,” Willis said. “As adults we experience things like this and can brush it off, but for a kid it can be devastating and stay with them a long time, so this is good.”
Willis said she remembered watching videos and seeing flooding of a community she knew so well, as said it was especially heartbreaking to see the playground at H.E. White destroyed.
“I was real excited when I had another opportunity to come to Clay County. It’s like coming home,” she said. “I’m proud to be part of the Guard, to come out and do things like this. That’s why I joined, it makes it all worth while.”
The kids at Clay County thought so, too.
Tyler Douglas and his younger sister Serenity were at home when the flood waters covered their road, blocking them off from the rest of the world. It was Tyler’s birthday, and it wasn’t any fun, he said.
However, Tyler and Serenity both said they were having fun with their friends on Saturday. A group of kids all agreed the rock wall and obstacle course were their favorite activities.
Owens said the best part of the camps, for him, was to see the young Soldiers, Airmen and volunteers interacting with the children and setting good, positive examples as role models.
“I think it continues to show a positive relationship between the communities and the West Virginia National Guard,” he said.
The Kids Kamp and Youth Leaders Camp will return to Camp Dawson in 2017, celebrating the 50th Anniversary for the camps.

• Date Taken: 09.26.2016
• Date Posted: 09.26.2016 14:40
• Story ID: 210613
• Location: CLAY, WV, US